3ABN Today

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

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Series Code: TDY

Program Code: TDY017008A


00:01 I want to spend my life
00:07 Mending broken people
00:12 I want to spend my life
00:18 Removing pain
00:23 Lord, let my words
00:29 Heal a heart that hurts
00:34 I want to spend my life
00:40 Mending broken people
00:45 I want to spend my life
00:51 Mending broken people
01:06 Hello, I'm Shelley Quinn
01:07 and we want to welcome you once again to 3ABN Today.
01:11 We're just glad
01:12 that you have decided to spend this hour with us
01:14 and I believe you will be sincerely blessed by the Lord.
01:17 We'll be talking to two people who as young people
01:21 were called out of darkness into God's marvelous light.
01:24 Amen.
01:25 And now they are filled with purpose
01:30 and they're allowing God to use them in a marvelous way.
01:34 We want to just take this opportunity to thank you
01:37 from the bottom of our hearts, for your prayers
01:41 and your financial support for 3ABN.
01:44 You are our God breathed partners
01:47 and we just want to express our sincere appreciation,
01:51 because we couldn't be doing this 24/7 ministry
01:55 around the world without your partnership,
01:58 so thank you so much.
02:00 Now let me go ahead,
02:01 I just want to introduce these two special people.
02:04 They're dear friends of mine, brother and sister in the Lord
02:07 and they're also are employees of 3ABN.
02:11 So first we have Janelle Owen.
02:13 Janelle, you're a designer for our publishing department.
02:15 Yes.
02:16 And you work on the 3ABN World News.
02:20 Yes. Yes.
02:21 Yes, and also Facebook,
02:23 and the Facebook all the different networks
02:24 have Facebook pages and recipe website,
02:29 anything that needs to be done that's creative.
02:32 Well, we're just very glad
02:33 that you're using your gift for the Lord.
02:35 Yeah.
02:36 Now next to you is your handsome husband.
02:40 Yes, he says, yes. Yes. No.
02:43 I don't know.
02:44 And that's Donald Owen.
02:46 And, Donald, you work in both production
02:48 and sometimes in our pastoral department as well.
02:50 Yeah.
02:52 And how long have you two been married?
02:54 For almost... Since 2008.
02:56 Be almost nine years. Since 2008, wonderful.
02:59 Together for 18 years.
03:02 Eighteen years you've been together?
03:04 There's a story in that, yeah. Mercy.
03:05 Yes, it's part of the testimony.
03:08 That's good. Okay.
03:09 Well, we're anxious to be reminded of your testimony,
03:13 I know you've shared it here before,
03:15 but we're going to hear beyond the testimony,
03:18 you know, sometimes we get stuck in
03:21 talking about the past and...
03:22 I'm sure.
03:23 God doesn't want us to always...
03:25 Right.
03:26 We speak of our past to bring Him glory.
03:27 Amen.
03:29 But then we've got to have more to the story,
03:31 there's got to be what God is doing in our lives now.
03:33 Yes.
03:35 And they've got so much to share.
03:36 As a matter of fact,
03:37 I would love to share a scripture with you,
03:39 there are several scriptures here.
03:41 And it's in Romans 12
03:44 and I'm gonna begin with verse 9,
03:46 and the reason
03:48 I'm gonna embarrass Donald and Janelle here.
03:50 The reason that I want to share this
03:52 is because when I sat down
03:55 I thought this is a scripture that reminds me of them.
03:59 And the subheading here is "Behave like a Christian".
04:03 Paul writes to the Romans.
04:05 He says, "Let love be without hypocrisy.
04:08 Abhor what is evil.
04:10 Cling to what is good.
04:13 Be kindly affectionate to one another
04:15 with brotherly love,
04:17 in honor giving preference to one another,
04:19 not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit..."
04:25 I like the way the Amplified says.
04:26 Yeah.
04:28 Never be lagging in zeal, you two never are.
04:29 Praise the Lord.
04:31 "Serving the Lord,
04:32 rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation,
04:35 continuing steadfast in prayer,
04:37 distributing to the needs of the saints,
04:40 given to hospitality."
04:42 And when I think of Donald and Janelle,
04:44 this is what I think of because when God brought them out,
04:48 and you know, Ephesians 5:18,
04:49 "We're commanded ever be filled with Holy Spirit."
04:52 And I know you all are
04:54 because the love,
04:56 the sincere love you have for others
04:58 to reach those who are lost and suffering,
05:01 and to see that you're never lagging in zeal.
05:04 When any event comes up,
05:06 you can count on them being there passing out materials,
05:10 they're quite the little literature evangelist,
05:14 but they've done much more
05:15 and we want to talk about that today.
05:17 But because we know you love music,
05:19 because we love music,
05:21 we like to praise the Lord
05:23 so we want to share this song with you.
05:26 We have Stephanie Dawn and she will be singing for us.
05:29 Dan Thornton is on the piano
05:31 and the song that they're going to be doing is "Grace".
05:45 My heart is so proud.
05:50 My mind is so unfocused
05:54 I see the things You do through me
05:59 As great things I have done
06:03 And now You gently break me,
06:08 Then lovingly You take me
06:12 And hold me as my father
06:17 And mold me as my maker
06:23 I ask you: "How many times will you pick me up
06:28 When I keep on letting you down?
06:32 And each time I will fall short of Your glory
06:37 How far will forgiveness abound?"
06:41 Then You answer: "My child, I love you
06:46 And as long as you're seeking My face
06:50 You'll walk in the power of My daily sufficient grace."
07:03 At times I may grow weak
07:08 And feel a bit discouraged
07:12 Knowing that someone,
07:15 somewhere could do a better job
07:21 For who am I to serve You?
07:26 I know I don't deserve You
07:30 But that's the part that burns in my heart
07:34 And keeps me hanging on
07:38 I ask you: "How many times will you pick me up
07:43 When I keep on letting you down?
07:48 And each time I will fall short of Your glory
07:52 How far will forgiveness abound?"
07:56 And You answer: "My child, I love you
08:01 And as long as you're seeking My face
08:05 You'll walk in the power
08:07 of My daily sufficient grace."
08:15 You are so patient with me, Lord.
08:27 As I walk with You, I'm learning
08:32 What Your grace really means
08:36 The price that I could never pay
08:40 Was paid at Calvary
08:44 So, instead of trying to repay You,
08:49 I'm learning to simply obey You
08:53 By giving up my life to you
08:57 For all that You've given to me
09:01 I ask you: "How many times will you pick me up
09:06 When I keep on letting you down?
09:11 And each time I will fall short of Your glory
09:15 How far will forgiveness abound?"
09:19 Then You answer: "My child, I love you
09:24 And as long as you're seeking My face
09:28 You'll walk in the power
09:32 of My daily sufficient grace."
09:50 That was Stephanie Dawn and Dan Thornton
09:52 and I just love her voice, I love the...
09:55 you were mentioning that she was singing,
09:57 I think it was at camp meeting when beautiful wonderful savior
10:01 when she did a duet with Pastor John Lomacang
10:04 and it's so beautiful.
10:05 Well, if you're joining us just a little late,
10:08 then I want to introduce our special guest once again.
10:10 We have a husband and wife with us
10:12 and that is Donald and Janelle Owen,
10:14 and we're just thrilled
10:16 that you guys are willing to share
10:18 and excited about what God is doing in your life.
10:21 Definitely, yes. I'm too excited.
10:23 Yes.
10:24 But you know, what I'd like to do is
10:27 I know you've shared your testimony on 3ABN before,
10:30 but there's many people,
10:32 we have new viewers everyday and many people
10:35 even if they've seen it may not recall everything
10:38 but they also, there're many who never,
10:40 this would be the first time to see you.
10:42 So, Donald, tell me you said
10:44 that you had been together 18 years
10:46 married for 9 of those 18.
10:49 So tell me a little bit about your past
10:53 and how God reached you?
10:56 He actually reached into a dark pit
10:58 and pulled you out, didn't He?
11:00 Tell me a little bit about that?
11:01 Well,
11:04 it began with the idea of pornography
11:07 at the age of 12,
11:08 my brother had very crafty,
11:10 he decided to go to a local corner store.
11:13 And there was no cameras at the time small corner store
11:16 and he then, adult magazines,
11:19 the very top rack which is obviously
11:21 they put them up, so kids can't reach
11:22 and he's old enough to reach them.
11:24 He showed about 10 of those down in his pants.
11:27 He came back home and he said,
11:28 "Hey, guys, I've got something to show you."
11:31 So about five or six of us guys went in the back in the shed.
11:33 We're here in the back
11:35 and there he will open the magazines
11:37 and I saw all kinds of images,
11:39 it just infiltrated my mind and at that time of my life,
11:42 you know, I was a teenager.
11:44 I mean, it's easy to be seduced
11:46 and brought into this idea of pornography
11:48 and that planted a seed in my mind for years
11:50 which began to get darker and darker as I got older
11:55 realizing that I was falling into this lust the sin,
11:58 but I didn't realize at the time what it was
12:00 because it was kind of a young age.
12:02 And as it progressed,
12:03 I got worse to get in the pornography.
12:06 I wound attend strip clubs, I've been to peep shows,
12:09 all that kind of stuff.
12:11 And then I also started getting online,
12:13 when online just first started, internet was just new,
12:15 it's kind of basic, there was no have pop ups,
12:17 you know, you see all those pop ups and everything.
12:19 It was real basic like DOS
12:21 and I remember the first time
12:23 I was in the computer room in college at that time.
12:25 I started texting or not texting but...
12:28 Searching. Yeah, I was chatting online.
12:30 Oh.
12:31 Chatting online, I would spend four, five hours a day
12:33 and I swear my eyes are, I wear glasses usually,
12:36 but I was on a computer screen
12:38 constantly looking four, five hours a day,
12:39 I just glued to that computer.
12:41 That was just neat to me that
12:42 I could be talking to somebody
12:44 away over in other side the world
12:45 that's when Satan came in and use it for another purpose.
12:47 Okay.
12:49 I began doing sexual chat online.
12:51 And I actually lost a job due to it
12:54 because it was such a strong addiction.
12:57 And then meanwhile I started dating her,
12:59 I still had this addiction
13:01 viewing pornography magazines or videos
13:05 and it was just a really hard thing to overcome
13:07 and I didn't tell her much about it as far as you know,
13:10 the chatting and things I was doing like that,
13:11 kind of kept it from her,
13:13 but we kind of got into the pornography thing together.
13:17 How did you, when you say that you got into it together?
13:21 How did you first learn that he was into pornography,
13:24 had you done it before
13:25 or was just something he introduced to you?
13:27 Yeah. Actually we didn't...
13:29 I guess we didn't realize early on our relationship
13:31 that we had both had viewed pornography
13:35 and had actually had,
13:37 you know, my history with that
13:38 and then at some point in our relationship,
13:40 I don't know how long we had been together
13:42 but we would go to video stores together
13:45 you know get the tapes
13:48 and you know, all the other stuff
13:51 that goes along with that lifestyle.
13:53 I won't go into too much detail
13:55 but you know, there's other things
13:57 to go along with that.
13:58 And so it just became kind of part of us like part of,
14:03 you know, our lifestyle.
14:04 And you know, I think at first
14:07 we had the shame of going in that backroom
14:09 at the video store to get the stuff
14:11 but then eventually you became calloused,
14:13 you know, when you get over that initial feeling of shame
14:18 and I think that, you know, eventually we just,
14:20 it just became like...
14:21 It becomes normal, doesn't it? Yeah, exactly.
14:23 But you know, I have to say this
14:25 because I remember the first time
14:29 that I heard this lovely couple's testimony
14:31 and I was just sitting wide-eyed thinking,
14:33 you're kidding,
14:34 because when the Lord did reach down and shine his,
14:40 when he shown his light into your darkness,
14:44 what a marvelous job He did of purifying you
14:47 and cleansing you of all unrighteousness
14:49 because these are two of the most pure hearts
14:52 you'll ever meet.
14:53 And just to see the purity in your life
14:56 now it's just so amazing.
14:57 Thank you. Praise God.
14:59 Praise God. Amen.
15:00 So you're together for nine years
15:02 and kind of a tawdry CD type of thing.
15:08 Did that ever make you feel like
15:11 you might not be able to trust one another,
15:13 did it bond you together or did it...
15:15 tell us about that?
15:16 That's interesting, you mentioned that
15:18 I had been doing a lot of sexual chat
15:21 with women online like I said there's one job
15:23 actually I lost my job over,
15:24 they caught me and they even the employees like, look,
15:26 they know what you're doing, you better stop.
15:28 I said, "No, I can quit. It's okay."
15:31 You know, I kind of have this you know, kind of thing.
15:33 I can deal with it, don't worry about it.
15:34 And I kept doing it and doing it
15:36 and eventually we were on vacation
15:38 and I decided to cover my tracks
15:40 because I knew they could follow you
15:42 on the computer where you went,
15:43 so I just start deleting stuff on the computer.
15:46 When I came back the manager boss,
15:48 he pulled me and he says, "We need to talk."
15:49 He said, "This isn't working out.
15:51 You need to leave."
15:53 I said, "What's going on?"
15:54 He said, "You just killed our computer is destroyed."
15:56 I don't know what you've done but we know what you're doing
15:58 and it was destroyed.
15:59 So I mean, I literally that's the first time,
16:01 I have ever cried at losing a job
16:02 because I knew what I had done,
16:04 I knew the shame and the guilt
16:05 and everything I carried with that,
16:07 it was really hard.
16:08 Then I had to come home and then confront her
16:10 with some of the stuff I've been doing.
16:12 And she was basically ready to walkout the door to leave.
16:14 I kind of knew that there was something going on.
16:17 And when we talked about it,
16:20 it was just confirming when he confessed.
16:23 It was just confirmed kind of some thoughts
16:24 that I had already and because really like,
16:27 you know, we had viewed the pornography together
16:29 and that wasn't an issue for me,
16:31 you know, because I thought it was okay at the time.
16:34 But the fact that he went a step further with,
16:36 you know, chatting with women
16:38 and you know, there's all that...
16:39 You felt betrayed. Exactly. Yeah.
16:42 As if he had cheated on you. Yeah.
16:44 And that's where those paths lead,
16:45 it's like it's a destructive path...
16:47 Yeah.
16:48 It will go further and then further and further
16:50 and it's like until there's no, it's just disappointment.
16:53 Okay, so how did God reach you?
16:57 Well, I've share this a lot of times.
16:58 We get married in 2008,
17:00 excuse me, I'm killing my throat.
17:02 In 2008, I had realize
17:04 I need to make some right changes in my life
17:06 so I want to get rid of that stuff,
17:08 I just want to get on my life, I wanted to make change.
17:11 I tried to quit several times on my own
17:13 and in February of that year, we're going to get married
17:15 which was in August of that year.
17:17 But February of that year I had a dream
17:18 and it was very, very, vivid.
17:21 I was in a bar with some friends, at time
17:22 we also drank a lot,
17:24 you know, I drank a lot but on weekends,
17:25 social gatherings and things.
17:26 And I was in a bar with some friends
17:29 and I'm standing next to this booth
17:30 and this old man walked, I just, I remember,
17:32 I mean I can still see it.
17:34 It's in 2008 just that means what almost 10 years ago now.
17:37 And I can just see him walking had this long white beard,
17:40 long white hair, just didn't,
17:42 I mean, he just look like he was a bar type person,
17:44 it's just he shouldn't be in the bar.
17:45 And he walked right up to me, locked eyes with me said,
17:48 "God is coming."
17:50 And when I heard that I just, I mean,
17:52 I literally just shout on my bed,
17:53 I just woke up I said, "What?
17:55 What is that?"
17:56 I mean something was weird about that dream,
17:58 it wasn't normal.
17:59 And I just instantly remember going to the living room
18:01 and pulling my Bible out, and I started reading.
18:04 I remember, Revelation 14:12 says,
18:06 "Here is the patience of the saints,
18:07 so they keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus."
18:09 And I just started crying.
18:11 I'm like what's happening? I said, what's going on here?
18:13 Then after that I was just totally just changed my life.
18:16 I mean, I read the Bible like I said,
18:18 from Genesis to Revelation in three months.
18:21 I mean, I read the whole Bible and I was so hungry.
18:22 I just, I want to know what truth was,
18:25 I wanted to make a change.
18:26 Did you have any kind of religious background?
18:30 As a young,
18:31 I think early teens or before that I was in Baptist churches.
18:35 And my brother actually told me
18:36 I was baptized in Baptist Church.
18:38 I don't remember it but he told me I was.
18:40 I don't remember it
18:41 but I remember being at the backroom
18:42 with the Baptist pastor
18:44 and accepting the Lord when I was about 12 or 13.
18:47 I don't remember the baptism but yeah,
18:48 so my mother tried
18:50 to kind of keep us in a spiritual aspect.
18:53 And my father, he kind of,
18:55 some things happen in a church
18:56 he had attended before and it kind of burned him,
18:58 so he didn't go to church as much
18:59 but my mom, she always tried to take us.
19:01 We bounced around from Baptist church to Baptist church.
19:04 How about you?
19:05 Well, I was just going to mention to you
19:07 as part of that testimony,
19:08 we actually lived together for 10 years
19:10 before we were married.
19:12 So that's where that extra time comes in you know,
19:14 we're together for 18 years now.
19:17 And so for me I was raised Adventist.
19:21 I was, you know, we were in church
19:24 until I was about the age of 12
19:26 and unfortunately, my parents got divorced
19:28 and then we stopped going to church.
19:30 And so at that point our family kind of went separate ways
19:35 and so church and God
19:38 just became really nonexistent.
19:41 And I never stopped believing in God
19:43 but I feel like He was never,
19:45 He wasn't put as a priority in my life,
19:47 I wasn't living what I knew from my childhood,
19:50 you know, the things I had learned up to that point
19:52 and so I wasn't living it.
19:54 But He was, I never stopped believing in God.
19:57 Okay, so when God really reached down
20:01 and touched and massaged
20:03 and started to breaking up the hardness of Donald's life,
20:08 how did you react to that?
20:09 Were you, at first
20:11 were you pleased by this or were you put off by this?
20:15 It was a mixture of things actually because I was,
20:18 I knew that it was God
20:20 because he had tried to quit some of the things
20:23 that he had mentioned,
20:24 you know, like the chats and things like that.
20:25 And even though we've viewed pornography together,
20:28 it was easier for me to quit that,
20:30 and it was, it was something that was harder for him,
20:34 but he had tried different things
20:35 and nothing was working.
20:37 And I saw the changes in him
20:38 and God was working on him big time.
20:42 But as far as you know, going back to church
20:45 and getting closer to God, at that point
20:47 I wanted nothing to do with any of that.
20:50 So there was, I like the changes in him
20:52 but I didn't want a new life, a new lifestyle.
20:55 I didn't want to change anything I was doing,
20:57 you know, I thought I'm okay.
20:58 That's what I thought I'm okay at this point.
21:00 And I'm like he's the one
21:01 with the problem like really no,
21:03 God, showed me other ways on that.
21:05 But so anyway it was kind of interesting
21:07 how that worked
21:09 but God worked on his heart first
21:10 and I saw those changes and eventually
21:12 after becoming, the Holy Spirit was softening my heart
21:17 and seeing those changes, it's just amazing.
21:19 And so just by that really made a difference for me.
21:23 Okay.
21:24 Well, let's fast forward
21:25 because the bottom line is the Lord did reach down
21:29 and He pulled you out of this darkness.
21:30 Yes.
21:32 You became actively involved in church
21:35 and your lives were both transformed.
21:37 Amen.
21:39 But now most recently over the past year
21:42 or so you've been taking what God did for you
21:48 and sharing it with the community,
21:50 and specifically you've been working
21:52 with Cheri Peters material,
21:54 "Celebrating Life in Recovery".
21:57 Who wants to tell us
21:58 about how you started this in the community
22:01 and how it was received.
22:03 Yeah. Actually, that's great.
22:04 Thank you, Shelley, for asking that.
22:06 It has been, let's see, we first moved here.
22:09 We knew God had used us back in Indiana
22:12 to get in the community and start,
22:14 we'd do festivals and things so.
22:16 We have a love for the community.
22:17 I really want to help see the community,
22:19 so my prayer, I was praying Lord.
22:20 I said, Lord, I know what your proverb says,
22:22 I don't remember the actual one but it says,
22:24 you know, "My people perish where there's lack of vision."
22:26 Yes.
22:27 I said, Lord, what is the vision
22:29 you'd have for this community?
22:30 What can we do?
22:31 And so as I thought on and pondered on it little bit,
22:35 I remember Brian Tyre when he worked here,
22:37 him and I we talked a bit.
22:38 And we're talking about doing addiction recovery,
22:42 it kind of popped up.
22:43 And then another coworker, she had mentioned here,
22:45 some stuff that her family's going through,
22:47 we're dealing with addictions.
22:49 So okay, this is interesting.
22:50 So then we instantly remembered, you know,
22:54 you guys record here Celebrating Life in Recovery,
22:55 Cheri Peters and so well,
22:57 maybe we should check into that.
22:58 So we did and we met
23:00 with the church board at that time,
23:01 we decided just popped in on the whim,
23:03 didn't even schedule anything, we just popped in,
23:05 "Hey, we're here.
23:06 We want to talk about this."
23:08 And we got a really good response from the board,
23:10 the church board and they said,
23:12 "Yeah, we want to back this up."
23:13 And so we decided to implement the program at the church first
23:17 to get the pilot to kind of get familiar with the program
23:21 what it did.
23:22 It's a 14 week course.
23:24 It's a 12 step program,
23:27 that deals with recovering people
23:29 through different various addictions.
23:32 And this is
23:33 "The Celebrating Life in Recovery".
23:37 It is based on the book Steps to Christ.
23:40 Yes. Amen.
23:42 It's based on Ellen White's book,
23:43 "Steps to Christ"
23:44 which is just a marvelous book
23:46 but it has been paraphrased
23:48 if you will, brought into modern English,
23:50 brought into English that the type of terminology
23:54 that would appeal to people
23:56 who might be going through or would be understood
23:59 I should say for people
24:00 who are going through those kind of problems.
24:02 Relatable to those who are in recovery.
24:03 Yes, okay.
24:05 So tell us a little bit,
24:07 what kind of success
24:08 did you have at the local church?
24:11 Well, not as much as we hoped.
24:13 We thought there's more enthusiasm.
24:16 My belief personally is that there's a lot of people
24:18 that are afraid to speak
24:21 about these things in the church.
24:23 I really feel like there's a need to...
24:26 As I like to say, I told this to Janelle,
24:27 I tell other people I said, when we begin to be realized,
24:31 when we begin to heal.
24:32 Yes.
24:33 And if we're not being real and people step into our church
24:36 and they're like, you know, you look around
24:37 and see all these people look perfect and happy
24:38 and stuff in which we should be we're,
24:40 you know, Christ is in us.
24:42 But at the same time, there are things
24:43 that we have struggled with or we do struggle with.
24:46 And we have to be honest, you know, with ourselves.
24:47 And so to me
24:50 doing this recovery just been powerful.
24:52 So we had a few show up at the church
24:54 that kind of became our core group.
24:57 We did another one locally at the school
24:59 there we started a second one.
25:01 Met a couple people attend.
25:04 And one person has stuck with us the whole time
25:06 since and we've done...
25:08 Amazing transformation.
25:09 Then we went to the Maranatha Center
25:10 which is located downtown it was Frankfurt.
25:12 We went there and we did another
25:14 Celebrating Life in Recovery 14,
25:15 we had 22 people show up.
25:17 Praise God.
25:18 And did they cover it again,
25:19 I mean, when we think recovery
25:21 sometimes people are just thinking of alcohol
25:22 or you know...
25:23 Oh, no. Alcohol and drugs.
25:25 But tell us I mean,
25:26 like you came out of the pornography addiction...
25:28 Right.
25:29 Tell us some... Sorry.
25:31 There were some eating issues.
25:33 There was alcohol and there was,
25:35 you know, all kinds of emotional type things...
25:38 Of abuse.
25:39 And, you know, abuse... A lot of abuse.
25:40 Suicide.
25:42 You know, those type of things too.
25:44 But we had 14 people graduate. Yeah.
25:46 Fourteen out of 22, that's excellent.
25:48 Yeah. It was powerful.
25:50 We have strong testimonies of how people overcome it.
25:53 Steps to Christ,
25:55 is to me one of the most powerful books
25:57 that I know of that wins people to Jesus.
26:00 I mean, it was just phenomenal.
26:02 I won't mention names
26:03 but some of our participants what they've been through.
26:06 One suffered a lot of mental illness.
26:09 I want to just put it that way.
26:11 And this person struggled
26:12 with a certain type of addiction.
26:14 Well, it broke him on that addiction after week five,
26:17 this particular participant struggled to come,
26:20 he didn't really want to come
26:21 but the Lord encouraged me to encourage them.
26:23 As I encouraged them they stuck it through
26:25 and now this particular person is what?
26:27 Five months clean.
26:29 Praise the Lord. Five month clean.
26:30 Yeah. Praise.
26:32 I got a text from this particular participant,
26:33 he said, "I've never, what's it like to be?
26:35 This is weird to be sober.
26:37 I've never been like this before,
26:38 I don't know what to do."
26:39 How exciting. Oh, yeah.
26:41 God has been really working amazing things and like,
26:43 you know, I mentioned that the transformation
26:45 and the one person he mentioned that, actually started
26:48 with our original group that's still with us.
26:50 There's now leader
26:51 and that's what we prayed for is we want to make disciples.
26:54 Amen. Amen.
26:55 We wanted, you know, people to take this
26:57 and use it and the transformation,
27:01 and we were talking the other day
27:04 about how this transformation that we see,
27:06 it's almost like we don't have kids,
27:08 but it's almost like you're seeing your kid
27:10 go through elementary school, then high school,
27:12 then college and it's like you're seeing them
27:13 go to the next level.
27:15 It's amazing. Yeah.
27:16 That's exciting. Yeah.
27:17 That's exciting.
27:19 But now why don't you take them through these 14 weeks?
27:22 And this is, I'm sure there's a lot of discovery
27:24 and this discovery of self discovering of the Lord
27:28 in knowing, learning how to draw in His power.
27:30 Right.
27:31 You know, in Jeremiah it says that,
27:35 "We can't change ourselves anymore
27:37 than an Ethiopian can change his skin
27:39 or a leopard can change his spots."
27:41 Right. Amen.
27:42 So it's something of learning how
27:44 to just give this all over to God these problems.
27:49 But as people are going through this
27:52 and you've seen such miraculous stories,
27:55 what happens at the end of the 14 weeks?
28:00 That is a great question.
28:02 That's something that we've been thinking about,
28:04 we talk to as a group
28:05 before everybody disperse the 14.
28:08 And when you ask, what do you want to do?
28:09 Do you want to go on?
28:11 We can help you get the material
28:12 and you can take it 'cause a lot are from.
28:13 I mean, we have one person driving two hours
28:15 one way every weekend.
28:16 Isn't amazing? That is amazing.
28:18 Two hours, so they were very committed.
28:21 I could just share this quick story.
28:23 The one particular lady that was two hours away,
28:25 she had a high speed chase go through her backyard
28:28 that night before they're getting ready to leave,
28:31 the car rolled over fence, took it out,
28:32 she still gets in her car, gets in her car,
28:35 she goes ahead to pick this other lady
28:37 and big bird on if it's like a vulture or whatever
28:39 a big bird smash into her front windshield,
28:42 glass all over a chair,
28:43 feathers and she picks the lady and still comes.
28:46 That's amazing.
28:48 She recognized that it was from Satan,
28:50 that she recognized
28:51 that the enemy was trying to stop her from coming
28:53 because that's the day
28:55 that Donald is really discouraged.
28:56 Yes.
28:57 I mean, a very discouraging day that we almost didn't go.
29:01 You know and things like that will happen on Sundays
29:03 like you know, either us or someone in the group
29:06 will have something strange happened to where,
29:08 you know, either we almost don't go
29:10 or we don't go at all.
29:11 Yeah.
29:13 So let me ask you this question
29:14 because you probably learned
29:16 a whole lot about yourself in leading this.
29:19 Did you not? Yes.
29:20 Oh, yeah.
29:21 And you learned a little to recognize.
29:23 You know, I can usually recognize
29:25 when somebody is under an attack of Satan.
29:29 But I'm not always quick to recognize
29:31 when I'm under attack.
29:32 Oh, that's true.
29:34 You know, it's kind of like
29:35 when something's going on in your own life,
29:36 you kind of assume the guilt,
29:39 the condemnation or something,
29:41 and finally one day you kind of like
29:42 "Wait a minute",
29:43 I'm under this is a spiritual battle going on
29:46 and I'm just, I'm not fighting back hard enough
29:49 or letting the Lord fighting for me.
29:51 But as you're learning these things about yourself,
29:56 did you find that, you know,
29:58 it takes a great commitment
30:00 to commit 14 weeks of your time to lead.
30:03 And I'm sure there were discouraging things
30:05 that happened.
30:07 But did you find that you grew in more,
30:12 more blessed even in the blessing
30:14 that you're giving to others?
30:15 Definitely.
30:17 I would say, yeah, it really poured into, you know,
30:18 our personal ministry when we work at the church,
30:22 when we do the church personal ministries
30:23 because it just gave us the fire
30:25 and the passion to want to see the excitement there,
30:29 it's like I want to see people excited about the Lord,
30:31 I want in churches, you know, I just I want to see people
30:33 excited about what they're learning,
30:35 I want to see them excited about the Word of God.
30:36 I want to see them excited
30:38 about what God can do in healing.
30:39 And there's that movie, was it Tell The World.
30:41 And Ellen G. White talked in there.
30:42 It was just so profound.
30:44 I mean, she's, I've never heard Jesus as a healer before.
30:46 And that caught me, I was like people need to know
30:49 that Jesus is a healer
30:50 and there's a lot of people don't know that.
30:51 And that was to me the key
30:53 and it's just really sparked us to get in the community.
30:56 We've been doing all kinds of stuff
30:57 with the different personal ministries
30:59 as far as like you said with literature,
31:01 giving out literature to people.
31:03 I mean just and trying to get people in the church involved,
31:06 members like, Elder Ted Wilson says,
31:08 he wants total member involvement.
31:09 Amen.
31:11 And I think that's what we need
31:12 and that's what we're striving for.
31:14 I mean, just really give us a spark to spark other people
31:16 to see life in them, just like what Ezekiel 37 says about,
31:19 "Breathing into them and given the bones and everything
31:21 and bring in the life."
31:22 And we want to see the life
31:24 and you have something
31:25 you're going to share it looks like.
31:26 Yeah, actually I think this would be a good time
31:28 to share these verses, Isaiah 61:1 and 2.
31:32 And this was actually brought to our attention by some folks
31:36 that we were sharing this ministry with
31:38 and they looked at each other
31:39 after we mentioned
31:41 the Celebrating Life in Recovery
31:42 and they said, Isaiah 61.
31:45 And so it's beautiful.
31:47 It says, "The Spirit of the Lord,
31:49 the Lord God is upon Me,
31:51 because the Lord has anointed Me
31:52 to preach good tidings unto the meak,
31:55 He have sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted,
31:58 to proclaim liberty to the captives,
32:01 and the opening of the prison to them that are bound,
32:04 to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord,
32:06 and the day of vengeance of our God,
32:07 to comfort all that mourn."
32:09 Why don't you read 3, 4 and 5 too?
32:11 3, 4 and 5. If you don't mind.
32:13 "To the point unto them that mourn in Zion,
32:15 to give unto them beauty for ashes,
32:17 the oil of joy for mourning,
32:19 the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness..."
32:21 There you go.
32:23 "That they might be called trees of righteousness,
32:25 the planting of the Lord, that He might be glorified.
32:28 And they shall buildup the old waste places,
32:31 they shall raise up the former desolations,
32:33 and they shall repair the waste cities,
32:35 the desolations of many generations."
32:38 Amen, and amen.
32:40 You know, I'm sitting here watching the two of you
32:42 and I'm thinking, there's somebody at home
32:45 who's watching maybe,
32:47 you've got a history of drugs or addiction, pornography,
32:51 and you're thinking, God can't use me,
32:55 or maybe you're in it right now.
32:56 But here you see how when God rescues us,
33:00 when we allow Him to be Jehovah Rapha,
33:03 the Lord who heals us.
33:04 Amen.
33:06 He can turn around and...
33:08 as Paul wrote to the Corinthians,
33:10 he said that he is the God of all comfort,
33:13 who will comfort you and then use you
33:15 to comfort others with the same comfort
33:17 that you receive from the Lord.
33:19 Yes.
33:20 So because the two of you
33:23 came out of the background of addiction.
33:26 Right.
33:27 I'm sure that people listened to you more readily
33:31 than if you've just been the pastors standing up
33:35 there trying to teach this class.
33:37 Yeah.
33:39 I was just going to say sometimes I feel like I regret,
33:41 you know, those years
33:43 that I was just wasting money, wasting time,
33:46 wasting all of the stuff that we did,
33:48 with God nothing is wasted,
33:50 it's you know, I still have the regret
33:52 but I know that God is using that now
33:54 to reach the people that need to be reached,
33:56 you know, through that testimony.
33:58 That's you know, it's all him.
33:59 When does that scripture say, what you meant for evil,
34:01 God meant for good.
34:03 Yeah.
34:04 And so God can totally turn anything around.
34:07 So you've had great success.
34:11 I mean, 14 out of 22 is glory to God.
34:14 That's an incredible success rate.
34:17 But now what do you do with them
34:18 because you've taken them all the way through,
34:21 you said you could offer the materials,
34:23 you are the personal...
34:25 Donald, you're the Personal Ministry's
34:28 director for the Thompsonville Seventh-day Adventist Church
34:31 which is our church that we attend here,
34:34 and you're the co-director.
34:36 What do you do now
34:37 with these people that have come into
34:43 the knowledge of how much God loves them?
34:45 Amen.
34:46 And what a plan that he has for their life?
34:48 Do you just say, "Bye.
34:49 See you."
34:51 No, we don't say goodbye and see you, no.
34:53 Mention that we have a team too...
34:55 Yeah, we have a team of people
34:56 that we get together and we meet.
34:58 We've been sorting some stuff out
35:00 but before that everybody is kind of,
35:02 the 14 weeks are wrapping up,
35:04 we sat down and then we said, "What would you like to do?"
35:06 First personally for me
35:08 and for you we've been praying,
35:09 we'd like to see disciples
35:10 like I said some of these people are
35:12 45 minutes away, 2 hours away,
35:13 I mean you live in a community
35:15 where you can be a center of influence.
35:16 Yes.
35:17 So we would like to see you take this material,
35:19 if you would like take this material,
35:20 we'll get it for you or whatever we got to do
35:22 but you can take this material in your own community
35:23 and use it.
35:24 Since you've used it now,
35:26 we really want to see disciples.
35:27 Unfortunately, that didn't happen
35:29 the way we thought it would but God had different plans.
35:31 Many of them said
35:32 that they wanted to do continuously.
35:34 They wanted this to be a continuous program.
35:36 And so I know this is only 14 weeks
35:38 so that's where we've been
35:40 implementing in designing a continuous program
35:44 to where we can keep this in the community
35:46 and keep people coming.
35:48 Most of the people that did come,
35:49 what I have done is I keep in contact
35:51 with them through texting.
35:53 I text them devotionals
35:54 and just ask how they're doing and...
35:56 Yes.
35:57 I try to, I'm not saying, I'm always great at it
35:59 but I do try to keep in contact with them.
36:00 Okay.
36:02 The communication has been little sparse
36:03 but just the seeds have been planted
36:06 and lot of people I said overcome
36:07 and it's just been phenomenal success.
36:09 And the continuous thing
36:11 is what we're really striving for now.
36:12 We're implementing some things in the community,
36:15 doing some advertising,
36:16 which I guess start next week some of it too.
36:18 But a continuous program
36:20 to where people can just walk in
36:21 on the street and say all,
36:22 because a 14 week program
36:24 you can be like week three like you missed stuff,
36:26 so we want someone where somebody just come in,
36:28 they can share what they're going through,
36:29 they can pray with them,
36:30 they can surround them with support,
36:32 and one of the biggest things that we talk about
36:34 is that this is confidential, this is extremely confidential.
36:37 And we stress that.
36:39 Yeah, because if it's not confidential,
36:40 you lose their trust.
36:42 Amen. Amen. Yeah.
36:43 So the continuous program that you're calling it DOVE,
36:48 D-O-V-E.
36:49 That's an acronym for?
36:51 Acronym actually,
36:52 we have a little something you designed to put together.
36:55 Yeah, I think maybe bring the graphics
36:57 so I can follow along with.
36:59 Dove... Yeah, go ahead.
37:00 Divinely overcoming,
37:01 becoming victorious and empowered.
37:05 Divinely overcoming,
37:06 becoming victorious and empowered.
37:09 The DOVE recovery group, I like that,
37:12 with your favorite color of green.
37:13 Of course, yeah. For new beginnings.
37:15 God is... Yes.
37:17 God with new beginning. New beginning, exactly.
37:19 We came up with that name specifically
37:21 because so when we sat down,
37:23 we said we want this people to overcome.
37:27 We don't want people to stay where they're at,
37:29 we want them to overcome,
37:30 we want them to gain the victory,
37:31 we've seen it happen.
37:33 "Steps to Christ" was integral part of that
37:36 and through that ministry reading that book
37:39 and also what steps are there in
37:40 Celebrating Life in Recovery, she deals in health as well,
37:43 which was really amazing to implement that into that,
37:47 weave that into that so it helps people
37:49 who are struggling to addiction to overcome like you know,
37:51 learning to drink more water
37:53 or eating more better foods or getting better rest
37:56 and all these necessary things
37:58 that associate with you know, overcoming addiction.
38:01 So that was really a key component
38:04 that we need is the overcoming.
38:07 We need to have overcoming
38:09 and also we want to empower people,
38:11 so they can go and take this to their families
38:12 like the Woman at the Well.
38:14 You think about what Jesus did there,
38:16 you know, and He didn't condemn her
38:18 or doing anything like that, He just you know,
38:19 she said, I'm going to tell my community
38:21 how many people came back?
38:22 It was a 1000 I think there was.
38:24 Whole city. Thousand or so came back.
38:25 And you know who is this man?
38:27 Who is the greatest evangelist? Yes. Indeed.
38:29 And was blessed, wasn't she?
38:30 Somebody there experienced it.
38:32 So we really want people to overcome,
38:34 to be empowered, and to be...
38:37 So what is the continuing program?
38:39 We're using this life recovery Bible.
38:42 It's amazing resource.
38:44 And again it's more in the language
38:47 that is very simple to understand.
38:50 And there's also workbook that we're gonna start using.
38:53 But this Bible is,
38:55 it has little devotionals in here and...
38:58 Twelve step devotional. Yeah, 12 step devotional.
39:01 It is a 12 step program and so for example,
39:05 one week we'll go over the topic of acceptance,
39:10 accepting that you have a problem.
39:13 And then they'll be a devotional on that
39:15 and then like in the workbook there's questions
39:18 that will probe them to think, you know,
39:20 different aspects of acceptance.
39:23 And this is just been a really great resource.
39:25 And actually one of my favorite things about this Bible
39:29 is The 12 Missteps of Life Recovery.
39:32 To me it shows the battle of the flesh and the spirit.
39:35 Read those real quick...
39:37 All are good. Twelve missteps.
39:38 Okay, The 12 Missteps of Life Recovery.
39:40 "I can quit tomorrow."
39:42 And in every one of these it has a scripture to it.
39:44 Yes, to show that...
39:46 To tell you can't.
39:48 And number two, "I can handle it
39:50 by just trying harder or having more willpower."
39:53 Oh, boy, everybody's been there.
39:55 Yeah.
39:57 Number three, "Turning my life over to Christ
39:59 is the only step I need."
40:01 And we all know that that's very important
40:02 but we also need to implement the practical...
40:06 Yes. Absolutely.
40:08 Applications.
40:09 Number four, "Twelve Step groups
40:11 that don't talk about Jesus aren't worth my time."
40:15 And again that's...
40:17 But you know, that is something that's
40:19 you know, there are people who I've heard that
40:23 in different 12 step programs
40:24 and I'll just specifically mention
40:26 this is in Alcoholics Anonymous,
40:27 there are some groups that don't talk about God
40:30 and just there are others who openly do,
40:33 but I've seen that even I had a friend
40:37 who attended one where they didn't talk about Jesus
40:40 but they did teach them to pray
40:42 and finally he was praying "to this higher power".
40:46 And he said that he said, I'm not sure it was audible
40:50 but it seemed audible that he said,
40:52 "I heard a voice say, I am your higher power.
40:57 My name is Jesus Christ."
40:58 Amen. Amen.
41:00 And he was totally transformed. Yeah.
41:04 And see I think that's important to mention
41:07 because Jesus takes us where we're at you know,
41:11 and I think that, you know, maybe somebody need to start,
41:14 some people need to start in those other groups.
41:17 What we focus on is their spiritual growth
41:19 more than anything.
41:21 And so we stress the importance of Jesus
41:25 being the one that helps them overcome,
41:28 but maybe some people need other 12 step groups
41:31 for where they're at in their walk...
41:33 'Cause there is some who will never come to your group
41:34 if it's all about Jesus and God,
41:36 if they have no belief whatsoever.
41:38 At least they'll have somewhere to go.
41:40 And number five,
41:41 "While recovery might be good for some,
41:42 it just isn't right for me."
41:45 Number six, "If I follow the Bible,
41:47 I don't really need to work the 12 steps."
41:49 And again, you know,
41:50 there's the practicality aspect of that.
41:53 Number seven, "Since I'm accountable to God,
41:55 I don't need a sponsor."
41:58 Number eight, "Since God has forgiven me,
42:00 I don't need to go back to rehash what I've done."
42:03 So all of these are the missteps...
42:05 Missteps. Yes.
42:06 In case anybody is listening on the radio,
42:08 we don't want them to think, these are the true steps.
42:10 These are the missteps of the life recovery.
42:12 And this is kind of like
42:14 where we go in our natural flesh,
42:17 it's like what we naturally want to think.
42:20 And so number nine,
42:21 "Since Jesus would want me to help my old friends,
42:24 I don't need to change where I go
42:26 or who I hang out with."
42:28 Big one there. Well, that's a big mistake.
42:29 Very big one.
42:31 Number 10, "Though I can forgive most things,
42:34 some things are just beyond forgiveness."
42:36 We know that's not possible
42:38 but Jesus can forgive all things.
42:40 And if we don't know forgiveness is...
42:44 unforgiveness is the root of bitterness and resentment.
42:47 Yes. And it's...
42:49 And some people...
42:50 There's no healing if we don't. Yeah.
42:51 So people need to hear that forgiveness,
42:53 you know, it helps them to heal.
42:54 Right. Sure.
42:56 Number 11, "Since I am involved in recovery,
42:58 I don't need additional counseling or medication."
43:03 Number 12, "After making good progress in my recovery,
43:06 I can start using again in moderation."
43:09 That one is really scary. Yes.
43:11 So those are things that
43:13 so following the Celebrating Life in Recovery,
43:16 the Cheri Peters recovery group that now you are taking them
43:20 into this life recovery Bible.
43:23 Let me ask you this question.
43:25 What do you do,
43:26 have you had anyone walking off the street
43:29 who hasn't been through the 14 weeks
43:32 the 12 step recovery?
43:34 Have you had somebody just joined you
43:36 and here you are working with people
43:38 that have gone through recovery.
43:40 Are they lost I mean, or do you intend to do
43:42 the Celebrating Life in Recovery 14 week program
43:46 again sometime or?
43:48 Basically, what we're looking as
43:50 just making this a continuous ministry
43:53 to where it's just continuous.
43:54 Because we want to make it to where anybody can come in
43:56 like you said off the street.
43:58 And just come in the middle like week five or week seven
44:01 and what we've been doing in
44:03 like with this Life Recovery workbook
44:04 and what it does is there's different devotionals
44:06 in the back.
44:08 There is a seven for step one, seven for step two,
44:10 so on so forth.
44:11 And what this does is it correlates with each step.
44:14 So it kind of like a stepping ladder
44:16 like a ladder to each step
44:17 and I'll just maybe read you a couple question here.
44:19 This is called know one situations.
44:21 Question number one says, what feelings do I experience
44:24 as I acknowledge people in my life
44:26 who have power such as supervisors, spouse,
44:28 religious leaders, and sponsors?
44:30 Just kind of answer that or what do I try to escape from
44:33 why do or what do I feel trapped?
44:36 So this is that's increasing the self-awareness,
44:39 I see that we're running out of time,
44:41 but it's excellent material.
44:43 It's an excellent.
44:44 I mean, I'm just so proud of you
44:46 that you've allowed God,
44:49 you didn't just take for granted
44:50 what the Lord had done in your life
44:52 but now you're sharing that.
44:54 And did you find that you're growing through this as well.
44:56 Oh, yes, definitely.
44:58 You know, we always say that we learn to teach
45:01 but we teach to learn.
45:03 It's like you can be... Oh, yes.
45:04 Learning something... For sure.
45:05 And then when you start teaching it,
45:07 it is like it is so deep inside of you.
45:09 So I know that you want to make yourself available to people.
45:14 Yes.
45:15 If you want to start one of these recovery groups
45:18 and you just like to talk to somebody who has,
45:21 if you are interested in your church
45:23 becoming involved in something like this
45:25 or reaching out to the community,
45:27 that's what we must do with... Amen.
45:29 We have to reach out... That's right.
45:30 With the love of Jesus.
45:31 And hold Jesus high
45:33 and He will draw all men into Himself.
45:35 Donald, why don't you give us your email address
45:37 and if you're brave enough your phone number
45:39 for people to contact you?
45:41 Sure.
45:42 My email address, it's Donald, D-O-N-A-L-D Ral, it's R-A-L,
45:47 I should say Ralph abbreviated in R-A-L.
45:50 And last name, Owen, O-W-E-N and then number 2.
45:53 So it's Donaldralowen2@gmail.com.
45:57 And my number, it's 812-267-0228
46:01 and you can reach me pretty much anytime.
46:03 I will get back to you as soon as I can,
46:05 I usually respond, so as quickly as I can.
46:08 So if you want give me a call to 812-267-0228.
46:12 Look forward to hearing from someone
46:14 because I know there's people out there
46:15 that need to hear, they need this ministry,
46:17 it's very important, it's addiction recovery
46:19 and just reach out to me.
46:21 That's all I can just add so.
46:23 And then I have to just reiterate
46:24 what you said in the beginning
46:26 that none of us can just stick your head in the sand
46:31 and ignore this problem because it's happening in our churches,
46:34 it's happening in families of church members.
46:38 There are people who are suffering with,
46:42 it could be a spouse
46:43 that's involved in pornography or drinking
46:46 or maybe their spouse is not involved in church,
46:49 but there's even church members who come to church
46:52 grit their teeth, they smile
46:54 and they act like everything's okay.
46:56 They've just got, you know,
46:57 they've mastered the verbal camouflage
47:00 but they need to have a safe place
47:04 where they can feel that people they trust
47:08 that they can share these problems with,
47:10 so that they can overcome.
47:12 Because, as you say
47:15 if we don't get real, we can't heal.
47:17 There you go.
47:18 So that's very, very important.
47:20 Well, I just want to thank you.
47:21 We're gonna come back in just a moment
47:23 for a final thought from the two of you
47:26 but I want to thank you for what you're doing
47:28 for the glory of God.
47:30 And it's just so exciting to see you all are involved,
47:33 every weekend you're doing something.
47:36 Having no children,
47:38 it seems like you have put all of your energies
47:42 into rearing up spiritual chore with the Lord.
47:44 Oh, amen. That's what we want.
47:45 Well, this has just been a time that reminds us
47:51 how much we need to share the Lord.
47:54 But before we come back with a final thought,
47:56 we want to have another song with Stephanie Dawn
48:00 and Dan Thornton will be on the piano.
48:02 And I love the simplicity of Stephanie Dawn
48:07 really communicates a message.
48:09 I love the simplicity with which she delivers a song
48:13 because you really hear the words
48:16 and these words are special, "How Deep the Father's Love".
48:35 How deep the Father's love for us
48:42 How vast beyond all measure
48:49 That He should give His only Son
48:55 To make a wretch His treasure
49:02 How great the pain of searing loss
49:09 The Father turns His face away
49:16 As wounds which mar the Chosen One
49:23 Bring many sons
49:25 To glory
49:41 Behold the man upon a cross
49:47 My sin upon His shoulders
49:54 Ashamed I hear my mocking voice
50:00 Call out among the scoffers
50:07 It was my sin that held Him there
50:14 Until it was accomplished
50:21 His dying breath has brought me life
50:27 I know that it is finished
50:45 I will not boast in anything
50:52 No gifts, no power, no wisdom
50:59 But I will boast in Jesus Christ
51:05 His death and resurrection
51:12 Why should I gain from His reward?
51:19 I cannot give an answer
51:25 But this I know with all my heart
51:32 His wounds have paid my ransom
51:39 Why should I gain from His reward?
51:45 I cannot give an answer
51:52 But this I know
51:55 With all my heart
51:59 His wounds
52:01 Have paid my ransom


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Revised 2017-03-02