Participants:
Series Code: CW
Program Code: CW000048S
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00:00 (soft music)
00:04 - Welcome everyone. 00:05 We're excited to share some country wisdom with you. 00:07 - King Solomon had a thing or two to say 00:09 about the path to wisdom. 00:11 In Proverbs four, he wrote, 00:13 "Let your eyes look directly forward 00:16 and your gaze be straight before you, 00:19 keep straight the path of your feet, 00:21 and all your ways will be sure". 00:23 - Join us now for "Country wisdom". 00:26 (soft music) 00:32 ♪ In chalest has ♪ 00:36 ♪ To the draves, towards the end ♪ 00:42 ♪ Out of on top ♪ 00:48 ♪ The song the moon for rising sun ♪ 00:58 - You know, Janice we're downtown Chattanooga today. 01:01 So you're gonna hear cars and traffic 01:03 and a little of everything. 01:04 We came here though today because of a building in behind, 01:07 we're gonna talk about in the moment. 01:09 Our guest is Mikey Jenny, 01:11 and it is good to have you with us, 01:13 but before you start, I wanna read a text that 01:15 I think maybe typifies some of your journey. 01:18 It's found in Psalms 32 verse eight, it says, 01:21 "I will instruct thee and teach thee, 01:24 in the way that thou shall go. 01:26 I will guide thee with mine eyes." 01:29 And Mikey, if I can call you Mikey, is that okay? 01:31 - Yes, perfectly fine. 01:33 - I think maybe that was a little your journey. 01:36 But I look at this journey I've gotta ask you, 01:38 for the folks at home, I see what appears to be big holes 01:41 in your ears and tats, would you explain a little bit. 01:44 - He's got part of his journey as road map. 01:46 - That's right, you can see the journey just looking at me. 01:49 Well, my parents did their best to raise me 01:52 in a Christian environment, they were Baptist, 01:54 and I they grew up in the Christian Church, 01:56 and went through the Christian schools and all that. 01:58 But somewhere along the way, I got interested 02:02 in some of this darker stuff, and that's why I have 02:04 the piercings in the tattoos and went into that world 02:08 for a little bit. 02:08 - And that building behind us 02:10 with the very interesting artwork, it has a slogan on there, 02:15 without my glasses I have a dream, or I had a dream. 02:19 And I understand that was part of your journey. 02:23 - Really was, I had a dream to be big and famous, 02:26 whether that was at one point, it was to be in a metal band, 02:29 and then when I started performing over here, 02:31 it was because of rap music. 02:33 And that was where I was really seeing success. 02:36 But when I tell my story, you'll see where God 02:39 kind of opened my eyes and I had to change things. 02:42 I had to change my path because of where he was leading me. 02:45 - When you say you got into the darker things, 02:48 do you mind them unpacking that just a little? 02:49 We don't wanna know all the gory details, 02:51 but just so the audience kinda knows really the power of God 02:55 to bring you from where you were to where you ar now. 02:57 - Amen, yeah so, my parents they'd put me 03:00 in vacation Bible school in and Hawanas, 03:03 which is like a little it's like vacation Bible school. 03:06 And so I had the knowledge of who God was, 03:09 and that I was a sinner that needed a savior, 03:12 and that was Jesus Christ who came to earth. 03:14 And at age nine, probably I remember 03:17 my mom was inside transcribing the sermon for that week, 03:22 and I thought that was boring so I was sitting in the car, 03:24 and at that moment, that was like my age of accountability, 03:27 I just started realizing that I am a sinner who can't earn 03:31 my way to heaven and I need Jesus. 03:33 And that moment I invited Christ into my heart, 03:35 I even cried, and when she came out, I told my mom, 03:39 I accepted Christ. 03:40 Had to been the best day of her life, 03:41 her son accepted Jesus Christ. 03:43 And so we were going through some different churches, 03:48 my parents were raised Baptist, 03:49 so we went to Baptist churches, but then we started seeing 03:51 my cousins church, it was a lot more rowdy, 03:54 there was raising a hands, and shouting, and dancing, 03:58 and we were like, wow, God's moving here. 04:00 So we started going to that church because 04:02 it looked like things were happening there. 04:04 And so I started going to youth group there, 04:07 which was really rowdy, people were mosh pitting for Jesus, 04:11 head banging for Christ. 04:13 So there was like Christian metal music and stuff like that, 04:17 but at least I was surrounded by people who feared God, 04:20 believed in God, were going on mission trips, 04:22 And so I was around influences that were believers, 04:27 but around age 12, 04:29 I started having some real skeptical thoughts. 04:31 Like if God said, thou shall not murder, 04:35 why did he murder the entire world with a flood? 04:37 And I would ask Christians these questions 04:40 that seem real tough because I was a skeptic, 04:43 and I was a true seeker honestly, 04:46 from as far as I can remember. 04:48 And Christians just didn't seem to have good answers 04:50 for these tough questions that I would have. 04:52 And I was really intrigued by the paranormal. 04:54 I was in a public school system and I would check out books 05:01 in elementary school, in the nonfiction section about ghosts 05:03 and aliens and UFOs, and I would see photographs 05:06 that's like, wow, this is a photograph of a ghost, 05:08 this is a photograph of an alien, it wasn't fiction, 05:10 it wasn't cartoons, and so I was really intrigued by that, 05:14 and that was the type of things 05:16 that Christians didn't have good answers for me either. 05:18 So I started to think, man, it seems like Christians 05:20 are just really narrow minded, and ignorant, 05:22 and if they don't understand it, or it looks weird, 05:25 well, it must be of the devil or it's wrong. 05:28 And I couldn't accept that, I was like, 05:29 there's people who are playing with Ouija boards, 05:32 and they're getting information from the other side 05:35 or whatever so I just about age 13, 05:38 just kind of checked out from Christianity, 05:40 even though I accepted Christ at nine, 05:44 and I had this zeal for a little while, 05:46 the Christians kind of dropped the ball on giving me 05:48 the answers that I was looking for. 05:50 - Did you start in the Ouija boards and some of that. 05:52 - Yeah, eventually I started getting into that stuff 05:54 because media is very powerful, and people wanna believe 05:58 that they're in control of their thoughts and all that, 06:01 but corporations spend billions of dollars on a 15 second ad 06:06 during the super bowl or whatever because it works. 06:09 When they know when you drive by that billboard, 06:11 you're gonna want that snicker bar or whatever. 06:13 So I was watching things I wasn't supposed to watch. 06:16 My parents actually tried to protect me from watching MTV, 06:23 and rated R movies, and violent video games, 06:24 and stuff like that, but I started getting to the age 06:26 where I could stay the night at people's houses, 06:28 I could stay home when they went to the store, 06:31 and that's the first thing I'd do. 06:33 And I saw Marilyn Manson, you probably don't know who he is, 06:36 - [Janice] No, I do. 06:37 - Okay, you know who he is. 06:38 He is basically the Ozzy Osbourne of my generation. 06:42 And now it's like, this stuff is mainstream, 06:44 it's not even shocking anymore, 06:46 but I have a picture you wanna see kinda? 06:47 - Yeah, how about you? 06:50 - I was very intrigued by this gentleman, Marilyn Manson, 06:55 and he inspired me to look like this right now. 06:58 - [Janice] That is you? 06:58 - Yes, that's me. 07:00 - [Jim] That is done with experience. 07:01 - [Janice] 'Cause I recognize you there, 07:02 but I don't recognize you in the first one. 07:03 - I don't, I don't even recognize myself there. 07:06 And as you can see, I'm wearing a pentagram, 07:08 I have stockings on, makeup on, 07:11 I'm wearing a skirt actually in this picture. 07:13 - And that's what they used to talk about walking 07:14 around the tombstones in your eyes. 07:16 - Yeah, I mean, that was me. 07:19 And so this guy Marilyn Manson just really impacted my life. 07:23 I looked at him and I was like, that's what I wanna be, 07:26 I don't know what it was, what the draw was, 07:29 but we're all drawn to sin in different ways. 07:32 And for me it was something 07:33 about that shocking, edgy, thing that I wanted. 07:37 And so then a movie came out called "The Craft" 07:40 and this was, it made witchcraft look very glamorous, 07:43 it made it look very realistic, it wasn't Harry Potter, 07:47 Disney special effects, this made it look real. 07:50 And so that intrigued me. 07:51 And so the internet was kind of new, and I started going 07:54 to these forums and finding out how do you cast spells 07:56 and all this stuff? 07:58 And I was just really drawn to that because like I said, 08:00 the Christians didn't have the answers, 08:02 but this looked like these people did have the answers. 08:04 - You know I can tell you Terry and I filmed 08:06 all over the world, and it is real. 08:10 We've been in those places, we've seen those things happen, 08:13 the devil in all he does is real. 08:15 - [Mikey] That's right. 08:16 - Praise God, God has more power, 08:17 but what you were getting into is real. 08:20 - Yeah, it is. 08:21 And I'm so glad, I think that God actually 08:23 had a little bit of a protection over me from seeing things, 08:27 because if I would've seen something 08:29 that was really impressive to me, 08:30 I would've been way down that road, 08:32 but seemed like anytime I would try to do it, 08:35 touch a Ouija board or something, 08:36 it just didn't work for me, but I was still attracted 08:39 to that edgy dark side of it. 08:42 And so me and my friend, we formed a band that was very much 08:45 like this music and it was a industrial Gothic band. 08:49 And I just wanted. 08:50 - I gotta ask you, 08:51 do you know what industrial Gothic band means? 08:52 - Actually, I do. 08:54 I read a lot, okay? 08:56 - Okay. 08:57 - It's very dark metal music basically, but industrial means 09:00 it sounds like the instruments sound like banging pipes 09:04 in a warehouse or something, it's very like eclectic. 09:07 - I don't listen to it, but I know what it is. 09:10 - All right, explaining your way out of it now. 09:11 - But Marilyn Manson and Nine Inch Nails, 09:13 that's the genre they are. 09:15 And so we perform this two man band, 09:17 and I would do everything 09:18 I could to be more shocking than him. 09:20 This guy tears up the Bible on stage and throws it out 09:23 to the audience and stuff and so. 09:25 - This guy beating the former you? 09:27 - Well, the Marilyn Manson. 09:28 - Well, Marilyn Manson, okay. 09:29 - But I wanted to be more shocking than him. 09:31 So I was writing songs that were blasting the crucifixion 09:34 and everything, 'cause to me it wasn't a reality to me, 09:37 but I was like, what can I say, 09:41 that's gonna get a reaction out of people? 09:43 What can I say that's gonna shock the world? 09:45 And so I was even making my band mate uncomfortable 09:47 with this stuff 'cause we were living a small town 09:49 in Georgia, majority of the population 09:51 at least claimed Christianity, 09:53 whether their lifestyle reflected or not, 09:55 you ask them, are a Christian? 09:56 Oh yeah, I'm going to heaven and all that. 09:58 And so I was on this journey, 10:02 and mainly I was plagued with the thoughts 10:06 of what is this life all about? 10:08 I mean, my mind was plagued with, what does it matter 10:11 if I become the world's biggest rock star, 10:13 a rocket scientist, or a jailbird for my whole life? 10:16 If the end result of this thing is just death, 10:18 and being gone, what is all this for? 10:22 You know to me, it is like, it didn't matter 10:24 what I lived for. 10:26 And so I was plagued with this thought. 10:28 And so I tried to have a more, 10:31 not so depressing outlook on it I thought, well, 10:33 I got one life to live, let's have fun, 10:35 so that meant drinking, smoking, fornicating, everything, 10:40 just filling the desires of my flesh. 10:42 - And a lot of that happened to this club 10:44 right behind you there? 10:45 - That's right. 10:46 And so I was living that lifestyle for a long time. 10:49 Totally unfulfilled, the cult didn't bring fulfillment, 10:52 didn't bring peace, 10:55 all I knew I was just living this loop of escapism 10:58 like I'd wake up, and well, I'm sober again, 11:00 I gotta get drunk again, 11:02 and so I was just living this lifestyle of escape. 11:05 And then my parents got a divorce, 11:07 I was probably 18 years old and me and my father wanted 11:12 to move back here to Chattanooga away from South Georgia. 11:16 But to me that was just one more depressing thing 11:18 in my life. 11:20 And my cousin drove five hours to help us move, 11:23 he had a pickup truck and he drove five hours 11:26 to load up his pickup truck, 11:28 and I got stuck in the cab with him, when I say stuck, 11:30 I don't mean like I didn't wanna be there, 11:32 I just mean like he had me for five hours. 11:34 I love my cousin, I looked up to my cousin. 11:37 And while we were packing, I heard him sharing his testimony 11:40 with my mother, I was like, wow, my cousin is a Christian, 11:43 I hadn't seen him in a couple of years, 11:46 and he's sharing his testimony and this was intriguing me. 11:49 One thing my mom, I always have to share my mom's testimony 11:52 when I tell mine because she grew up in fear every day, 11:56 she was raised in a church and in school that taught you, 12:00 if you don't say this little prayer, 12:01 you're gonna burn for eternity, it's never gonna end. 12:04 And she had a student, a classmate, 12:07 that would come in that got burned in a house fire. 12:09 And she said, it just looked monstrous to her, 12:11 and that girl would still have pains years later 12:14 because the scars just hit the nerves and stuff, 12:17 and my mom was terrified of fire. 12:19 And so all her life, she was told, 12:21 if you don't say this prayer, you're gonna die 12:23 and burn hell forever. 12:25 And so every single night from elementary school 12:28 into her adulthood, she would lay down at night, 12:31 and she'd say, Lord, please come into my life and save me, 12:34 'cause I sure don't wanna die and go to hell. 12:35 And that was her full motivation for becoming 12:38 a Christian, was fear. 12:40 And God gets no pleasure out of fear based conversion, 12:43 He wants us to come to him out of love, He's our creator, 12:45 He gave us all this world, and He gave us life, 12:49 and he wants to experience true love from us, not fear. 12:52 - And you can't love someone that you're afraid of. 12:53 - I know and so, 12:56 in my mom's adulthood, she was just trying to find out 13:00 how can I get salvation? 13:02 How can I have assurance? 13:04 And so in this rowdy church that we started going to, 13:07 she started being witnessed to by my cousin's parents, 13:11 and so we started going up there like every day, 13:13 she'd take my dad to work and we'd go up there, 13:15 and I thought it was a blast 'cause I got to hang out 13:16 with my cousins, but my uncle was witnessing to my mom, 13:20 and she just couldn't understand, how do I believe? 13:23 How do I know this is real? 13:25 And so one day before he left, before my mom left, 13:29 he just kept reading scripture, 13:30 scripture, scripture, scripture, can't get better than that, 13:32 that's the best thing he could have done. 13:34 And he read one verse and it was like, 13:37 God stopped her right there and she said, 13:39 it's sounded like my uncle tuned out like a radio 13:42 in the background, and she said, 13:44 "What was that verse you just read about believe? 13:46 He said it's, "If thou can't believe, 13:49 all things are possible to him that believeth." 13:51 And that verse triggered something to my mom. 13:54 She goes, "I can believe, I can believe." 13:56 And right then she accepted Christ out of love, 13:59 it wasn't fear anymore, she had assurance of salvation, 14:02 and that was her personal testimony. 14:05 And when I was a kid, I got her a magnet that said, 14:08 believe in all things are possible, 14:09 I knew that was her verse. 14:11 And so while my cousins sharing his testimony with my mom, 14:14 she's sharing hers and what was a joy for my mom 14:17 to share her testimony would make my skin crawl. 14:20 Every time she would have an opportunity 14:22 to share her testimony, I'd be like, oh, here we go again, 14:25 believing all things are possible. 14:27 This was demonic forces inside of me that hated hearing 14:30 the word of God, and I'd just wanna leave the room. 14:32 And to me that shows the power of God's word, 14:35 the power of testimonies that we will overcome 14:38 with our testimonies. 14:39 (soft music) 14:42 Battle sounds 14:45 - You know no one could ever calculate 14:48 the amount of sacrifice that went into the making 14:50 of this great nation. 14:51 The gains of so many because of the loss 14:54 of the precious few. 14:56 As a child in school, I sang "America The Beautiful", 14:58 "God Bless America". 15:00 We started every day by reciting the pledge of allegiance. 15:04 But a lot has changed. 15:05 Biblical predictions are taking shape at amazing pace. 15:09 If you're about my age, 15:10 you know that this is not the country we all grew up in. 15:13 Well, it seems like this nation is rushing toward a cliff 15:16 with no possibility of return. 15:19 When I became a Christian, 15:20 I began studying biblical prophecy last day events. 15:23 I found a book called the "Great Controversy" 15:25 that was amazing in its clarity. 15:28 If you'd like a copy log onto our website. 15:31 - [Narrator] To order your free copy 15:32 of "The Great Controversy", 15:34 go to TalkingDonkeyInternational.org. 15:36 Click on the store tab, and order your copy today. 15:44 - Now you're riding in the truck with your cousin, 15:46 you still look like that? 15:47 - I look like this, yes. 15:48 - You looked just like that. 15:49 And that's why he was trying to. 15:50 - [Janice] He's doing a real job on his scene. 15:51 - That's right, and he was willing to take it on, 15:54 for five hours. 15:55 He was trying to reach me where I was because he knew 15:58 why I was rejecting God, 16:00 why I was rejecting "church-ianity", 16:01 and all these things, and he's like, look, man, 16:04 I just read the Bible, and it's almost like 16:06 that magic stuff you're into, like I read it, 16:08 and I see things happen all around me, it's like I pray, 16:11 and I see miracles happen. 16:12 And he was trying to reach me where I was, and he did, 16:14 and intrigued me, and I was like, okay, 16:17 I hate when people judge me for the way I look, 16:19 I would have friends whose parents 16:21 wouldn't let them hang out with me because 16:23 of the way I looked and I was like, 16:24 don't judge a book by its cover. 16:26 And yet I was judging God by the people who claim 16:29 to represent Him, by the pastors teaching false things, 16:31 by the congregation that are living like hypocrites, 16:34 and yet I never even read God's word for myself. 16:37 And he was saying, just read the Bible. 16:39 He's like, don't judge God by all the churches, 16:42 just read the Bible. 16:44 And I was like, okay, I'm at like a rock bottom here, 16:46 I've done everything else. 16:48 So we moved to Tennessee and I'm living with his sister 16:51 and her husband, and my dad's with me, 16:54 and we're trying to get on our feet, 16:56 we're trying to get jobs and all these things. 16:58 And I wanted to work at this place called Hot Topic. 17:01 I don't know if you ever heard about it, 17:02 but it's a store in the mall. 17:03 - It's in every mall. 17:04 - Yeah, so every mall has this store, 17:06 and it used to be real Gothic, 17:08 everything there looked like the stuff I was wearing, 17:11 and the employees could wear piercings, 17:13 they could dress just like this, it wasn't uniforms. 17:15 And to me wearing a uniform just felt fake to me, 17:18 and I didn't wanna be like that. 17:20 So I wanted this job and I started reading the Bible, 17:23 started in Genesis, and I was just mind blown, I was like, 17:26 I've never heard this stuff before, I've heard Noah's Ark, 17:29 and the creation story and Daniel in the Lion's Den, 17:33 but there's a lot more in here. 17:35 And it was like, it was an interesting book, 17:37 I was like, this isn't dry and boring like I thought it was. 17:40 So I was every day reading the Bible and my cousins 17:43 who that was their house would walk by my room, 17:46 and see me read my Bible. 17:48 And I started going to their church every week too, 17:51 because I was really seeking, 17:52 I was at a point where I was truly seeking God, 17:55 if you're real, show me yourself in this book. 17:58 And I was praying if you're real, give me this job 18:00 at Hot Topic, I want this job. 18:02 And I filled out the application, turned it in, 18:04 didn't hear anything back, I xerox it 10 times, 18:07 and started going every day and giving it to them, 18:09 and people are like, oh, you gotta call them. 18:10 So I'd call them, and that was just annoying them. 18:13 What I didn't realize was you have to know somebody there 18:16 to get that job. 18:17 There's a lot of weirdos that wanna work there. 18:19 And so you have to know somebody 18:21 'cause they don't wanna hire somebody that might be 18:23 a thief or something. 18:24 And so I remember I had three different job application, 18:28 or three different job interviews, and during the interview, 18:32 near the end, the manager would say, 18:33 you know you can't wear all this stuff in your face, right? 18:35 'Cause I had a like nine piercings just in my head, 18:38 and I'd stand up and say, oh, I didn't know, 18:41 you're discriminating against people with piercings 18:42 and I'd walk out. 18:44 Like I was trying to be a pioneer for my kids, 18:46 I don't want them to be discriminated against, 18:48 I was trying to take this stand and start this movement, 18:51 but my cousins finally had to have a talk with me, 18:54 and they said, look, we're helping you get on your feet, 18:57 and you're walking out of interviews, your dad's got a job, 19:01 maybe these piercings are becoming an idol in your life, 19:04 they knew I was seeking God, and they're like, 19:06 maybe you need to take him out and I wasn't, 19:08 I wasn't ready to receive that yet. 19:11 I'm trying to show you where God 19:12 actually revealed himself to me, I was praying for this job 19:15 at Hot Topic, and I finally just said, 19:17 okay, I gotta get a job wherever. 19:19 And I got a job at this barbecue restaurant. 19:23 And the lady saw the holes in my lip and she goes, 19:26 "Oh you got lip rings?" 19:27 I said, yeah, I gotta take them out, get a job, 19:29 you know working for the man. 19:30 And she goes, oh I understand, and she flipped out 19:32 a septum piercing that she had flipped in her nostrils. 19:35 And she was the assistant manager and she said, 19:36 "Come back tomorrow, I wanna introduce you to my manager." 19:39 And so I got the job because of that little connection. 19:42 And then while I was talking to her at work, 19:44 I said, I really wanted a job at Hot Topic, 19:46 but she goes, "My best friend is the manager over there." 19:50 Wow, big coincidence, right? 19:52 To me I was like, I'm praying for this job at Hot Topic, 19:56 I know you gotta know somebody to get the job, 19:59 and I get this job that I don't want, and it just so happens 20:02 that she's best friends with the manager there. 20:04 God was orchestrating my whole life to guide me 20:08 to answer my prayer before I'd even prayed it. 20:11 And to me, that was more impressive. 20:13 I thought God was some magical genie. 20:15 I'd say a prayer and opened my eyes 20:17 and there's a car manifested in front of me, 20:19 but he's working things out like a domino effect. 20:24 And I gave God the glory for that. 20:26 I was like, I put a post-it note on my mirror that said, 20:29 "Thank you for the job Hot Topic. 20:31 Thank you, Jesus." 20:32 And to me, God really revealed himself to me 20:35 when I was truly seeking. 20:36 He says, "Seek and you'll find." 20:38 Not read my Bible and try to debunk it. 20:40 And I'll prove myself to you. 20:42 He doesn't have to prove himself to anyone. 20:43 But I had a seeking heart, honestly seeking. 20:48 And He was meeting me where I was. 20:49 Again, God's so personal. 20:51 He knew that some people might think that's weird 20:54 that God got your job at Hot Topic. 20:56 - That's exactly what I was thinking. (Janice laughs) 20:57 - But it was a stepping stone. 20:59 And to me that was what I needed at that moment 21:01 for God to seem real to me. 21:04 - Amen, so you got the job at Hot Topics. 21:07 What happened, I mean, you found Christ through all this, 21:11 you took off all the earrings and the plates 21:13 in your ears, everything. 21:16 - Yeah well, God just seemed real to me. 21:18 I was like, I believe the Bible, 21:20 I believe He answered my prayers, 21:22 but I'm just not ready to become a Christian yet. 21:24 To me, I was young and I was still having fun, 21:26 I thought, you know. 21:27 And to me it was like, well maybe on my deathbed, 21:30 I'll give my life to God. 21:31 What a selfish reason. 21:34 But I was overwhelmed with friends 21:37 because I started working at Hot Topic. 21:38 I started my own clothing line called Execute Clothing. 21:41 It started getting really popular. 21:42 Models from all over the world were wearing it, 21:44 bands, and rap groups and stuff. 21:47 And then I was getting involved in music as well. 21:49 So people were really looking up to me in a way, 21:52 and I kind of became like this local celebrity. 21:54 And so every day when work was about to end, 21:57 I'd have all these texts coming in, 21:58 like go to this party, go to that party. 22:00 But one night nobody was available. 22:03 Everybody was out of town, 22:04 or hanging out with a girl, or whatever. 22:06 So I went home by myself and I just started watching TV. 22:10 And during that, I felt like God was saying, 22:13 why don't you pray? 22:15 And I was like, okay. 22:16 So I muted the TV I said, 22:18 I don't know what I'm praying about. 22:19 But Lord helped this friend, help that friend, 22:22 anything to think about to pray about 22:23 because I was really seeking 22:24 and I felt God was talking to me. 22:27 And during that prayer, I felt like God was saying, 22:29 "This is your moment to accept him, receive him." 22:32 And I open my eyes, I'm like, 22:33 "Oh, I'm not ready for that. 22:35 That must have been in some other thought that wasn't God." 22:37 The moment I thought that it was like this eyeopening 22:40 reality, like a smack in the face like, 22:43 you're seeking for God and you believe I'm real. 22:47 And when I say, this is your moment you're running for me. 22:50 Right then I realize that I'm running from God 22:51 at this point. 22:53 He's saying, I said, I can believe that God exists. 22:55 I can believe in the Bible. 22:56 I can believe that prayer works. 22:57 Why can't I believe that he's saving my life right now. 23:00 It was that same word, believe, 23:02 the same word that was for my mom. 23:04 And I gave in, I said, 23:06 "Lord, come into my life, and I receive you." 23:09 And God showed me things that were personal to me. 23:11 He showed me my mom sharing her testimony. 23:13 If thou canst believe. 23:15 I saw the magnet I gave her when I was a kid. 23:17 And he even showed me this little scene of a game 23:19 that I used to play, where you press these buttons 23:21 to make this dog say these words. 23:23 And when you beat a level, he spins around and said, 23:25 "I just gotta believe." 23:26 And it was like, God is so cool and personal. 23:29 And it was just, 23:31 I never felt God like that. 23:33 And that night there was like this battle 23:36 between faith and fear. 23:38 And I remember walking to my room 23:40 and my legs would just tremble. 23:43 'Cause my mind was thinking, what if all this is fake? 23:46 And my whole body would tremble. 23:47 And then I'm like, no, no, no it's real. 23:48 And it would instantly stop. 23:50 Like God is the prince of peace, 23:52 and He can just take it away. 23:53 And there was this battle going on. 23:55 And so over the years I was just trying to grow. 23:59 It was a growing process. 24:01 And I started finding little pieces of literature 24:05 that got my interest. 24:07 And I started studying the Bible for myself. 24:09 And when I got into God's word, 24:11 it wasn't some condemning pastor saying, 24:13 if you don't do this, you're going to hell. 24:14 It was God's word that convinced me, 24:17 I need to get married. 24:19 I was living with my girlfriend and we were like, 24:20 we need to get married. 24:21 And I had a drug problem, 24:23 every day I was smoking and drinking weed. 24:25 (Jim and Janice laughing) 24:27 I was smoking, smoking weed and drinking beer every day. 24:30 And I was trying to cut back. 24:33 And every time I'd say, I'm gonna cut back. 24:34 Someone would show up at my house, 24:36 hey, I hadn't seen you in a long time or whatever. 24:38 And new years 2013, I had to submit fully. 24:42 I had to tell God, I cannot do it, every time I fail Lord. 24:46 And I'm giving you permission to take this outta my life. 24:49 A lot of people pray like if you don't want me to drink, 24:51 take the beer off the shelves. 24:53 That's not gonna happen, we live in a fallen world. 24:55 You have to submit to him and he's ready to take it, 24:58 but he's not gonna take things outta your life 25:00 that you're cherishing. 25:01 And so I told him, Lord, 25:02 you have permission to take this outta my life. 25:04 I'm telling you, I woke up the next day 25:05 without a single withdrawal. 25:06 It was completely supernatural, 25:08 'cause I had withdrawals every day. 25:10 And when I woke up those piercings were outta my ears. 25:13 And I took it as a sign, not to put them back in. 25:15 So that's how that all happened. 25:20 - It's no secret that the world is in a major mess. 25:24 We are in a major mess. 25:26 Even if you have escaped many of life's difficulties, 25:30 most homes still struggle with daily living. 25:34 So the question arises, 25:36 is there hope for the future, for your future? 25:40 I wanna tell you there absolutely is hope. 25:44 And that's why I'm asking you to order this free pamphlet, 25:47 "Is There Hope for the Future?" 25:50 You will be happy you did. 25:53 It will change your life. 25:54 Go to TalkingDonkeyInternational.org today 25:59 and order offer 105, "Is There Hope for the Future?" 26:06 (upbeat music) 26:09 - You know no one could ever calculate 26:11 the amount of sacrifice that went into the making 26:14 of this great nation. 26:15 The gains were so many because of the loss 26:18 of the precious few. 26:18 You know, as a child in school, 26:21 I sang "America the Beautiful" God bless America. 26:24 We started every day by reciting the pledge of allegiance. 26:28 But a lot has changed. 26:29 Biblical predictions are taking shape at amazing pace. 26:33 If you're about my age, 26:34 you know that this is not the country we all grew up in it. 26:37 Well, it seems like this nation is rushing toward a cliff 26:40 with no possibility of return. 26:43 When I became a Christian, 26:44 I began studying biblical prophecy, last day events. 26:47 I found a book called "The Great Controversy" 26:49 that was amazing in its clarity. 26:52 If you'd like a copy log on to our website. 26:55 - [Narrator] To order your free copy 26:56 of "The Great Controversy", 26:57 go to TalkingDonkeyInternational.org. 27:00 Click on the store tab and order your copy today. 27:07 - We've only got about a minute, 27:08 but can you speak to our audience, 27:11 maybe young people that are watching this? 27:13 What should they do? 27:16 - Look, I looked at this, 27:18 I tried to look at the world with an open mind, 27:21 and everything I looked at 27:23 didn't bring hope or peace or joy. 27:26 It all ultimately brought me back to Christ, 27:29 back to the Bible. 27:30 And when I actually gave him a true chance, 27:32 I don't think everybody gives him a true chance. 27:34 They just hear what they heard from church, 27:37 open God's word, read it. 27:39 And with a seeking, honest seeking heart, 27:42 He will reveal himself to you through that word. 27:44 And I truly believe that God's word is powerful, 27:47 and that He'll talk to you through it. 27:48 That's why they called his word. 27:50 - Amen, Janice here's certainly someone 27:52 who's tried everything and found the only thing 27:55 that works is Jesus Christ. 27:56 - Well, because it's the only thing that really works. 27:58 - Amen, folks, give it a chance. 28:01 Give Jesus a chance. 28:04 Thank you for watching. 28:05 Join us again for another exciting country wisdom. 28:07 - See you next time. 28:08 (uplifting music) |
Revised 2022-05-18