Participants: C.A. Murray (Host), Bryant Clark, John Hairston, Lemuel Vega, Robert Hairston, Santiago Valdez, Susan Hairston, Troy Sandifar
Series Code: FIN
Program Code: FIN000016
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00:03 Well, the Lord himself shall descend from heaven
00:06 with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, 00:08 and with the trumpet of God. 00:09 And the dead in Christ shall rise first. 00:12 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up 00:15 together to meet them in the clouds 00:16 and so shall we ever be with the Lord." 00:20 Those words that come from 1 Thessalonians 4:16 00:23 are very, very important. 00:25 I have been spending some time here 00:27 behind the penitentiary here at Michigan City. 00:31 These graves are the final resting place for men 00:35 who are unclaimed when they died. 00:38 No one came to look after the body, 00:40 no one claimed to take it home. 00:42 So they were simply cremated and then planted here. 00:47 Their names like Guthrie here 00:50 have been long since forgotten about. 00:52 But they are not forgotten about by God. 00:54 Each grave is marked and on that day when Christ comes, 00:57 Solomon says each man will receive his reward, 01:01 be it for good or for ill. 01:04 Christ one day will give to each their reward. 01:08 Our job is to make sure that 01:10 as many as possible know of his sacrifice, 01:13 are given a chance to accept that sacrifice. 01:16 So that day can be a day of rejoicing 01:18 for men and women all over the world. 01:34 I'm free indeed. 01:38 Father God, we come to You, in the precious name of Jesus. 01:41 Thanking You Lord for this opportunity 01:43 to see a need for a Savior. 01:46 I plead to blood of Jesus 01:47 over every spirit, soul and body here. 01:50 And I ask You Lord to give each soul rest here 01:54 from their habits of sin including mine. 01:57 I ask You Lord to pullout Your mercy, Your grace, 02:01 Your power, Your might and Your spirit 02:03 and to impart it to each and every soul in this room. 02:07 That you Father God would allow us to be able to do 02:11 Your good purpose and Your will and in Jesus name, 02:15 I ask You Lord to illuminate our minds to see the truth 02:18 and give us the strength to follow it, in Jesus' name, amen. 02:26 Lord Jesus, I'd like to ask You to bless 02:28 everybody's families tonight and make sure 02:31 they stay safe and unharmed from many other people 02:35 out there who wants to hurt them. 02:37 And do any other kind of crimes towards anybody's family, 02:40 just because they're locked up and can't do nothing about it. 02:44 Until they get out to make sure that they can take care of them. 02:48 And I say that because my wife is out there 02:51 and I can't do none about it. 02:53 And I felt like I needed to come up here 02:54 and speak on everybody's behalf on that. 02:57 So Jesus please make sure everybody's families are okay 03:00 because I hope mines. 03:02 I don't believe in excuses, 03:06 however I believe in understanding. 03:10 I was raised in a holiness home. Amen. 03:14 Both of my parents are ministers 03:17 and they raised me in the love of Christ. 03:21 And I had some bad experiences in church though. 03:25 Church member molested me, I was violated. 03:30 So my view of God was distorted. 03:34 When he told me about the bus driver 03:37 at my church molested him. 03:40 I said John, if you'd told me at 10-20 years ago, 03:45 if you'd told me you'd been coming to prison to visit me. 03:51 So I see God's mercy that dad is not in jail 03:56 for killing this rascal that I trusted. 04:01 See and so he did something for me by not self disclosing 04:09 and shame that he battled with came out 04:14 with misplaced aggression in all the battles he fought. 04:21 He was frightened inside that he couldn't share with nobody. 04:25 So he turned to drugs and things 04:29 that keep you in attained in another sphere. 04:35 And that's where he went, that's the way he went 04:38 and that's where a lot of young people go. 04:42 It killed my spirit and I began to not have any love 04:49 for myself, I had low self esteem. 04:51 And I had problems with authority immediately. 04:55 I couldn't trust nobody. 04:57 I couldn't understand the emotions 05:00 would have been abused like that. 05:03 And you know, so I grew up 05:05 full of rage and anger for many years. 05:09 You see, that I was bound by rage, I was bound by lust 05:14 because that experience produced a lust in me, man, 05:18 that was so fire. Amen. 05:21 And I started manipulating women, 05:23 I start running gang, playing myself. 05:27 You know, I got addicted to drugs, alcohol 05:31 and those things were my god. I feel you. 05:34 My pistols, my Hennessey, my drink, my drugs, 05:40 the women, those were my god. Jesus wasn't my God. 05:45 And I was raised that Jesus is God. 05:48 He ain't part God, He all God. 05:51 My anger was towards Christians whoever, man. 05:56 I had no peace in me. 05:59 I had no sense of calmness in me. 06:04 But keep in mind I had loving parents. 06:07 So I've witnessed many good moments 06:11 with having six sisters and three brothers. 06:14 And you know, I saw a lot of love. 06:17 I saw a lot of good times but only inside it was just chaos. 06:23 He was locked in a way he was going. 06:28 And it almost look like he wasn't going to change. 06:33 But prayer, how many know prayer changes things. 06:37 Prayer changes things. Brother, my testimony is this. 06:41 I shot a Christian in the head. 06:45 The Christian lived and said I'll forgive you. 06:50 I was so against God, brother. It was powerful. 06:53 We were devastated, we never had anyone 06:57 in our family in prison before or in jail 07:01 or in that type of trouble before. 07:03 So we were totally-- even though we're Christians 07:06 we were devastated. Didn't know how to handle that. 07:10 So filled and bound with rage, man, anger. 07:15 You see, God allowed, He didn't do it. 07:19 But He allowed me to make those bad choices, man, 07:23 because He created us with freewill. Amen. 07:27 I felt like a failure, 07:30 I felt like somewhere I failed. 07:37 I didn't know where it was 07:41 but I just felt like I had failed my son. 07:46 And then I was afraid 07:49 and then the police came to our home. 07:55 And they want to know if I knew where he was. 07:59 And I told them yes, I think he's gone back 08:01 to West Virginia where his grandmother lived. 08:04 And I was praying Lord, please don't let them hurt my son. 08:10 And he made it to West Virginia 08:13 and he was just where I told him he was. 08:16 You know, what they did, they had like a SWAT team 08:19 and they were ready for him. 08:22 But God didn't let them hurt him. 08:25 So they bought them back to Indiana 08:27 and it was quite a while before we saw him, quite a while. 08:32 But the good part, that's the sad part, 08:36 that's the tear jerking part but the good part is that 08:41 he began to change in prison. 08:43 See so the thing is I made choices, man, 08:46 that I live with regret to this day. 08:49 It took me five years to forgive myself 08:51 by God's grace. Amen. 08:52 But I want you to know that victim 08:54 that Christian said to me, I'll forgive you. 08:58 Amen. Praise God. The light came on. 09:00 For real. The light came on. 09:02 When you get broken, your ears come open for help. 09:07 And you can hear the still small voice of God. 09:11 When I was told I forgive you, man, it broke me. 09:17 Amen. I realized I deserve hell, man. 09:21 I deserve hell. Jesus want me. 09:25 Jesus want to forgive me. Amen. 09:28 You know I couldn't understand that. 09:31 But I got on this with myself in the county jail. 09:34 I said I can't blame my parents. 09:37 I can't blame people that abused me 09:40 when I was seven years old. 09:42 I can't blame anyone, man. It's me. 09:46 It's my fault and when I did that, 09:49 God began to mature me. 09:51 You know, God began to show me more about His love for me. 09:56 And you see I want to encourage people to believe 09:59 beyond your feelings. Amen. 10:01 See I want to, I want to encourage people 10:04 to confess beyond your feelings. 10:06 We walk by faith, not by sight. 10:07 Thank you, brother. Amen. 10:08 Because I'm gonna tell you something, 10:09 if I walk by feelings, I won't be here. 10:13 When I didn't see the best in myself. 10:17 When I couldn't see, when I was blind, 10:20 Jesus always saw my potential. 10:24 He always saw me on the mountain top. 10:29 He always saw me in victory. All though I was in the valley. 10:34 All though I was a lost soul, I was living in sin. 10:39 He saw me better than that. And I thank Him for that, man. 10:43 I thank Him because even when I didn't see Him 10:49 through the years He gave me hints 10:52 that you're better than this, 10:56 even though I didn't come out of it. 10:57 There was times I was drunk, man, 11:00 and I would just start crying, 11:03 crying and crying and crying, man, 11:06 knowing that I needed Jesus. 11:09 But I can't talk about this shame. 11:13 I can't talk about this secret. He saw the best in me. 11:19 My son sings a song entitled, He saw the best in me, 11:27 when others saw the worst in me. 11:29 Anyone that feels like they're damaged goods, 11:33 like nobody cares I've ruined my life, 11:37 I have been told that I'm no good, I'm stupid, 11:39 you can't do anything right. That Jesus sees the best in you. 11:46 That's why He created you. You're worth something to Him. 11:51 You're worthsomething to Him. Hallelujah. 11:53 How many believe that God saw the best in you 11:55 while you was in your sin? Amen. 11:59 Hallelujah Jesus. Hallelujah. 12:01 I get stirred up about that. Yeah. 12:03 Hallelujah because I know what he has done for me. 12:06 Hallelujah, hallelujah, my soul buzz out. 12:12 Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Thank You Jesus. 12:17 He saw the best in me 12:23 When everyone else around 12:28 Could only see the worst in me Say it. 12:34 Come on John, take your time, take your time. 12:36 Oh Lord, my Lord, 12:40 He saw the best in me. Yes, He did. 12:45 Hallelujah. Yes, He did. 12:47 When everyone else around 12:52 Could only see the worst in me 12:58 Oh, my Jesus, 13:03 He saw the best in me. Yeah, hallelujah. 13:10 When everyone else around 13:14 Could only see the worst in me 13:20 Oh, help me seeing What did he see? 13:25 He saw the best in me 13:29 When everyone else around 13:31 Everyone else around Oh my, my, my, my, my God 13:35 Could only see the worst in me 13:39 Oh, Jesus saw the best in us Oh, yeah 13:45 He saw the best in me 13:48 When everyone else around 13:51 Everyone else around Oh my, my, my Lord. 13:55 See the worst in me 14:06 See He's mine, and I am His 14:12 It doesn't matter what I did 14:16 He only sees me for who I am 14:22 Oh, my Jesus 14:26 See He's mine and I am His 14:31 It doesn't matter what I did 14:36 He only sees me for who I am 14:42 Oh, let me sing 14:46 He's mine I'm His 14:50 It doesn't matter what I did 14:55 He only sees me for who I am 15:03 He's mine, I'm His It doesn't matter 15:10 It doesn't matter what I did 15:12 He only sees 15:14 He only sees me for who I am 15:21 He's mine all mine My Lord, my Savior 15:28 It doesn't matter what I did 15:31 He only sees me for who I am 15:35 Oh my Lord Oh 15:40 He's mine I'm His 15:46 It doesn't matter what I did 15:48 He only sees me for who I am 15:56 He saw the best in me 16:01 When everyone else Everyone else around 16:07 Could only see the worst in me 16:09 You see my elementary teacher told me 16:11 that I'm gonna be nothing. 16:13 She told me that ain't no hope for me 16:16 But Jesus saw. Hallelujah. He saw the best in me 16:20 What I didn't see, Jesus saw. Hallelujah. 16:22 Everyone else around 16:25 Could only see the worst in me 16:28 I thank You, Lord. Hallelujah. 16:31 I thank You, Lord. I praise You, Lord. 16:33 You're worthy to be praised. 16:35 He saw the best Hallelujah, Jesus 16:40 The best, the best Hallelujah, Jesus 16:44 What did He see? The best 16:46 In the midst of the storm? The best 16:48 In the midst of your pain? The best 16:50 In the midst of you sin? The best 16:52 In the midst of your sin? The best 16:54 What did he see? The best 16:56 What did he see? The best 16:59 What did he see? The best 17:01 What did he see? The best 17:03 What did he see? The best, the best 17:09 Oh, my Lord He saw the best in me 17:14 When everyone else around 17:16 Everyone else around 17:19 Could only see the worst 17:23 Amen. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. 17:25 I give God much praise, much glory and honor 17:29 for taking my son, turning him around, 17:34 give him a heart that's full of love for Jesus Christ 17:38 and caused him to care for others. 17:42 And it's just marvelous, 17:43 it's just we've visited him last Sunday 17:46 and as we were sitting there talking to him, 17:49 I didn't feel like I was in the prison. 17:52 Just talking to him, he is so upbeat, 17:54 he is so excited and just talking to him. 17:59 And it just seems like the prison walls melted away. 18:02 And we were just having, just a family discussion. 18:06 And I give God praise for that. 18:08 It's been 12 years that John has been incarcerated. 18:13 But I'm believing God to work a miracle for him 18:16 that he can get out while dad and I are still alive. 18:20 I'm 67 years old and I'm just believing God to work a miracle. 18:26 And I'm proud of him. I'm always just grateful. 18:32 It took this, he told his mother. 18:34 It took this to get him on the right track 18:37 and it's keeping in him in his lane. 18:40 So you can get in trouble if you get out of, 18:44 if you get out of your lane. But he is in his lane, 18:49 and Jesus is helping him to stay in his lane. 18:53 And so I'm proud of it, God bless. 19:00 We want to get you out and downstairs 19:02 and get your bags and it tell us 19:03 our time has really, really gone, 19:05 in fact I am looking at zeros all the way across me. 19:08 Technically I have no time. 19:10 But a preacher and a microphone are dangerous combination. 19:13 So for what I'm about to do to you, I apologize. 19:16 We're gonna do it in just two minutes. 19:17 I'm gonna bring you a message from the graveyard. 19:19 It won't be long, it comes from 2 Kings 13:20-21. 19:27 The Bible says, "Then Elisha died, and they buried him. 19:31 And the raiding bands of Moab invaded 19:34 the land in the spring of the year. 19:37 So it was, as they were burying a man, 19:39 that suddenly they spied a band of Moabite raiders 19:43 and they put the man in the tomb of Elisha. 19:46 And when the man was let down and touched the bones of Elisha, 19:49 he revived and stood on his feet." 19:51 I want you to get the picture. 19:53 Spring was a time of year when the Moabites 19:58 who were first cousins to the Israelites 20:01 always invaded the land. 20:03 Every spring like clockwork they were coming and invading. 20:07 So you're always on the look out for Moabite raiders. 20:11 Evidently there is a funeral. 20:13 Now the great Prophet Elisha had just died. 20:18 They hadn't had a chance to close the tomb in 20:21 so you still got this open hole. It's a sad funeral procession. 20:26 Spring, flowers, sunny skies 20:29 but nobody is paying attention to that because it's a funeral. 20:34 So as they move along of in the distance 20:38 they spy a band of Moabite raiders. 20:40 I want you to get the picture. 20:42 These guys are coming to kill, the swords are flashing, 20:45 they've shields, they've got spears 20:47 and so the funeral train is thrown into this frenzy. 20:52 We got to run for our life. 20:53 So what do we do with this body? Well, here is a hole. 20:57 Let's throw him in a hole and run for our lives. 21:01 And that's precisely what they do. 21:04 But the Bible says when they throw 21:05 this dead body into the hole 21:08 and his body touches the body of Elisha, 21:14 he revives and stands on his feet. 21:19 Now you got to get the picture. 21:21 Because they just threw a dead body in a hole. 21:27 I have done 117 funerals at my last church. 21:30 My last church was 2,142 members in Manhattan, New York. 21:35 I did a 117 funerals. 21:40 And everyone adults people that I put down in a ground 21:44 is still in the ground. Amen. 21:48 That's the way it's supposed to be 21:50 until Jesus comes back and resurrects. 21:53 It is supposed to if you get put down, 21:55 you're supposed to stay down. Amen. 21:58 Amen. Amen. 22:02 Amen. Amen. 22:05 But the Bible says when this fellow 22:08 got put in the hole he jumped back up. 22:11 Now can you imagine the visual? That's like a sci-fi movie. 22:18 You got a band of Moabite raiders rushing into attack 22:23 a band of Israelites rushing away 22:26 and this guy jumps up out of the hole, "war over." 22:33 Amen Amen. 22:35 You know, when God got to raise up dead people 22:38 to fight against you, it's time to stop fighting, 22:40 don't you think? Amen. 22:42 But the message from the graveyard 22:44 really is this because my time is gone. 22:47 You're never too dead 22:51 to be revived by Jesus. 22:56 You may look at your life and say my rap sheet is pretty long. 23:04 I have sinned, you know, you ever do stuff, 23:09 you get on your own nerves. Come on tell the truth. 23:12 You know, sometimes you do stuff, you're so "What? 23:18 You know what was I thinking." 23:23 Can I spell stupid that I'm that stupid? 23:29 Ah, you just you know you make yourself sick. 23:34 How could I be so dumb? 23:38 You know, the Bible says in one of my favorite texts 23:40 Romans 8:1 "There is therefore, 23:45 now no condemnation to those who were in Christ Jesus." 23:51 Even though you're pointing your finger at yourself 23:55 when you come to Jesus, he says 23:58 "Finger pointing is done, no condemnation." 24:04 You can't be too dead for Jesus. Amen. 24:10 He can revive the deadest soul. 24:13 He says, "He that cometh unto to me, I will in no wise cast out." 24:21 Basically, Christ says, "If you've got enough sense, 24:24 if you've got enough sense to call, 24:28 I have got enough love to answer." 24:30 Amen. Amen. 24:33 So free yourself, free yourself from your own guilt. 24:35 Free yourself from your own past 24:37 because in Jesus you've only got a future. 24:40 Amen. Amen. 24:42 And you're never too far gone. You're never too dead. 24:45 You're never gone too far. You've not done too much. 24:47 He don't care where you've been, 24:49 what's you've done, how many times you've done it. 24:51 He says, I love you with an everlasting love. 24:58 And He didn't wait for you to get straight to come to Him. 25:01 He went looking for you. 25:03 Amen. Amen. 25:05 So give it to Jesus. Whatever it is, 25:07 give it all to Jesus, He can carry it. 25:10 And if necessary He can carry you 25:13 even if you're carrying a few extra pounds, 25:15 He can carry you. I guarantee you. 25:23 How long you've been in this maximum security prison? 25:27 Twelve. So you've been locked up 25:28 in here for 12 years? Correct. 25:30 In the street, did you ever find any true freedom? 25:34 No, in the street the only thing 25:35 I find was myself being absent from the Lord. 25:38 Being detained really locked up still. 25:41 So you were free by society standards but you were 25:43 in bondage out there. Right. 25:45 And how is it that you can come to a maximum security prison 25:48 locked down, locked up behind a wall 25:51 and now today you've got some, 25:52 you're able to be free indeed. That's pretty easy. 25:56 You know, you try to do everything 25:57 that you want to do on your terms. 25:59 You try to wake up in the morning saying 26:01 I'm going to do this, it fails. 26:03 So the next day you wake up in the morning 26:04 and you'll be like, okay, I'm gonna do this different. 26:06 Then there's road blocked there. 26:08 So the next day you wake up and try and do this again. 26:10 You're like hold up, man, I did everything else my way, 26:14 let me try God's way now. God's way. 26:16 What would you say to people in the world? 26:18 They are out there free by society standards, 26:20 but what do they got to do find to be free indeed? 26:24 You got to sit down, open your eyes, 26:27 its really just catch your own breath. 26:30 Don't worry about what the next person is doing. 26:32 Don't look in the mirror and say, 26:33 well, I want this what they get. 26:34 Well, I want what this person or the other person get. 26:37 You got to figure out what you want to do 26:38 with your own self when you pass away, 26:40 you go unto the heavenly gates. 26:42 And the Bible says, "To seek first 26:44 the kingdom of God in his righteousness." 26:46 Amen. Correct. 26:47 And, bro, you've made a commitment 26:48 to put God first in your life. Amen. 26:50 And you made a commitment to die to self 26:53 as a symbolism of dying with Christ 26:57 in the baptism of waters to be raised anew and everlasting bro. 27:00 He is going to empower you unto the gates of heaven 27:03 as long as we stay true and faithful. 27:05 Thank you very, very much. Amen. 27:06 God bless you. |
Revised 2014-12-17