Participants: Aaron Chancy (Host), Tony Hall
Series Code: TNJ
Program Code: TNJ000006
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00:01 The following program discusses sensitive issues.
00:03 Parents are cautioned that some material may be 00:05 too candid for younger children. 00:11 Welcome to "The New Journey," 00:12 the program where we meet real people, 00:14 with real life testimonies, 00:16 with real life working ministries for Jesus. 00:18 Today we'll meet a man that will explain 00:20 the process and steps an ex-offender can take 00:23 to have better success when getting out of prison. 00:25 We'll learn some prison definitions 00:27 and how your church can be trained 00:28 and equipped for prison ministries. 00:30 We'll also be blessed by hearing his testimony 00:33 of how God saved him. 00:35 I'm your host Aaron Chancy, 00:36 come join us on "The New Journey." 01:07 Welcome back to "The New Journey." 01:08 Today we have with us Elder Tony Hall. 01:10 Thank you for being on the program, Elder Tony Hall. 01:12 It is my pleasure to be here. Amen, amen. 01:15 We have some exciting information 01:17 that we want to delve into. 01:19 First we want to talk about your ministry, 01:20 then we'll transition into your testimony 01:23 of how God saved you. 01:25 The first question we want to talk about is, 01:27 your ministry is entitled "TheXoffender Network." 01:30 Why exactly is it called a network? 01:32 A network is where different talents, 01:36 different skills, different gifts come together 01:38 to support one another. 01:40 Throughout the state, any state, 01:42 the prison system exists from border to border. 01:45 Therefore covering the whole state, 01:47 and in order to minister to those 01:49 who are coming out of the prison, 01:51 we need to network the whole state. 01:53 'Cause a person can be released in one city 01:56 and end up living in another. 01:57 Yeah, yeah, that's true. 01:58 We develop a network so that we can reach into 02:01 all areas of that state. 02:02 That's great. 02:04 So you're pretty much working together, 02:06 like a family, so to speak. 02:07 Working together to help the ex-offender, correct? 02:10 Exactly, we become a family, a support system 02:13 to those who have made a decision 02:14 to overcome negative lifestyle, 02:17 and to change these negative lifestyles 02:18 to positive lifestyles. 02:20 So there's need to be a mentorship. 02:22 Amen. 02:23 And so we networked the mentors, 02:26 so that we can reach them wherever they are. 02:28 Okay, now your ministry is entitled TheXoffender Network. 02:32 What exactly is the definition of an Xoffender? 02:35 Well, the Xoffender is not in a dictionary at this point. 02:40 We've combined several words to make one word, 02:43 and it is "theXoffender." 02:45 TheXoffender is one who has acknowledged 02:49 offending the law of God, and the law of the land, 02:53 but no longer through regeneration desire to do so. 02:57 Okay, so they are Xoffender from offending the law of God 03:00 and the law of the Land. 03:02 It's not just one aspect you're working with, 03:04 you're working with both aspects, 03:06 the law of the land and the law of God. 03:08 That's great. 03:09 You know, you're a faith based ministry 03:11 and I noticed on your website that you have three steps 03:15 in TheXoffender Network. 03:16 Can you talk a little bit about those three steps? 03:18 Well, the first step is inside the prison. 03:21 Okay. 03:22 Uh, going inside the prison is not for everyone. 03:24 By going inside the prison, 03:26 we do what is called pre-release. 03:28 Now, you said something very interesting, 03:29 I got to stop you right there. 03:31 You said going into the prison is not for everyone. 03:33 No, it's not. 03:35 Describe a person that prison ministries 03:37 may not be for, to go inside the prison. 03:40 That one is hard. Okay. 03:42 You have to be called to go into the prison. 03:44 Be called, okay, okay. 03:45 Because the Lord may have called you to another work 03:48 but you're saying, "I want to do something else." 03:50 It's best to stay where God called you at. 03:52 Exactly. Okay. 03:53 Exactly. Okay. 03:54 So the people who go into the prison 03:56 do what we call pre-release. 03:57 Okay, pre-release. 03:59 The bible studies, the books, the information. 04:02 Our whole attitude towards the person is to help them 04:06 make a decision to overcome the negative lifestyle, 04:09 choose the positive lifestyle. 04:11 And we reinforce that. 04:13 Okay, now you mentioned Bible studies. 04:15 What kind of Bible studies do you use 04:17 as you minister to inmates? 04:19 Well, we study from the Bible. Period. 04:21 Okay, praise the Lord. From the Bible, period. 04:23 Okay. 04:24 That way we'll give them an opportunity. 04:26 I was reading in the book of Jeremiah 17:5. 04:32 And it simply says, "Cursed is the man 04:34 that trusteth in a man, and maketh flesh his arms, 04:38 and whose heart departeth from the Lord." 04:40 So if we share with the person not to trust in man, 04:44 and what man has to say as far it relate to spiritual things, 04:49 then what we're teaching then is, 04:51 to study, to show yourself a proof 04:53 when your God has a word not to be ashamed. 04:56 We're rightly divided in the word of truth. 04:58 So we stick to the Bible, as we prepare a person 05:01 to accept the word of God and change their lifestyle. 05:05 Amen. Okay. But that's the first stage. 05:07 All right, so your first stage is working with the inmate 05:11 while they're incarcerated, doing Bible studies, 05:13 studying together, things like that. 05:14 What's the second step? 05:16 The second step is in the church. 05:18 The motto for TheXoffender Network is, 05:20 we develop the Xoffender friendly home, 05:23 church and community. 05:26 So we have to go into the church 05:28 to train the members of the church 05:30 to work with the Xoffender. 05:32 And the Xoffender is a Christian. 05:34 Xoffender is one who have accepted Jesus Christ 05:36 as Lord and Savior. 05:37 While he was already incarcerated. 05:38 There's a support system inside the prison, 05:40 and those who gave up negative lifestyle inside the prison, 05:44 because they have a support system in the prison. 05:47 But when they come out of the prison, 05:48 they need a support system. 05:50 Yeah, yeah. 05:51 So the church now becomes that support system. 05:54 So what we do is a small church can do something 05:57 like maybe help with getting a birth certificate. 06:01 A social security card, or driver's license, 06:04 or help a person get to work 06:05 or get to a self support group or whatever. 06:08 It could be very minimal, 06:09 depending on the resources of the church. 06:11 Okay. 06:12 But we can go as large as developing multi-million dollar 06:15 therapeutic communities. 06:17 Wow. 06:19 Where we can actually help people overcome 06:20 negative lifestyle through social workers, through medical 06:26 and physical health providers, and also through spiritual. 06:33 Okay. 06:35 What we've decided to do is, 06:36 is work with the physical, mental, 06:38 social and spiritual man. 06:39 The complete man. That's right. 06:40 The complete man. 06:42 So you can go from any small beginning 06:45 to any large endeavor as related to helping a person 06:49 who's decided to overcome a negative lifestyle 06:52 to develop a positive lifestyle. 06:53 You know, that's interesting that you should say, 06:55 ministering to the whole man, 06:56 'cause actually read in the Bible, Luke 2:52, 06:59 it said that, "Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, 07:01 and in favor with God and man." 07:03 He was a complete individual. 07:04 He was complete, mentally, physically, socially 07:06 and spiritually as well. 07:08 So your ministry is trying to minister 07:10 to an individual in his totality, correct? 07:13 Exactly. That's great, that's great. 07:14 So the first step is ministering to the inmate 07:16 while they're incarcerated. 07:17 The second step is ministering to the church family. 07:21 Exactly. 07:22 How do you, in your years of doing this work, 07:25 how have you seen that the church has reacted to this? 07:28 Well, ours is a small church in Montgomery, 07:31 Alabama, for instance. 07:33 We host what we call 07:35 a "New start celebration program." 07:37 Okay, all right. 07:38 Where we invite those in drug court, 07:41 those who are in rehabs, 07:42 and different therapeutic communities 07:45 to come to the church on Sunday afternoons, 07:48 3 o'clock. 07:49 When they show up, what we do is, 07:51 for 30 minutes, we do inspirational. 07:53 For another hour, we break up into different groups, 07:56 and we deal with and work with them, 07:58 with other social issues, physical issues, mental issues. 08:01 Amen. And their families are invited. 08:04 Wow. 08:05 We started on Mothers day a year ago or so. 08:08 And we went from one person to an average now 08:12 of 60 to 65, 70 people every Sunday 08:15 who are not a member of our church, 08:17 and probably a member of no church. 08:19 But they come there for spiritual enlightenment, 08:22 not necessarily every Sunday. 08:23 So this is one of the things we've done. 08:25 Also we work with a program in that same area 08:30 where church members, social workers, 08:33 and MBAs got together 08:35 and decided to open up a therapeutic community. 08:37 We got together, 08:39 I became the chaplain for this organization. 08:41 And now, we minister to them on the social aspects. 08:45 You know, through social work, through mental health, 08:48 through physical health, and through spiritual health. 08:50 That's a blessing. And we do it in a balanced way. 08:54 The name of it is Lifetime's Resolutions: 08:57 The Holistic Women's Center. 09:00 So we're working with the women on all four aspects, 09:04 mental, physical, social, and spiritual. 09:06 Okay. Praise the Lord, praise the Lord. 09:07 So we've got the first step, we've got the second step. 09:09 What's the third step to this network? 09:11 Well, the third step is the community. 09:13 Okay. 09:14 The community could be the biological family. 09:17 It could also be employers or employees. 09:21 It could also be housing, jobs and so forth. 09:25 So what we do is we help them by being a reference. 09:28 For those who've been to prison, 09:30 we go to an employer and say, 09:32 "Look, this person has the skills, 09:34 he's taken the time to develop. 09:36 Once they..." 09:37 Because they've gone through your program. 09:38 They've gone through our program, 09:40 they've gone through other programs. 09:41 Remember the ones that are in the prison 09:42 when we're doing pre-release, 09:44 we consult with the chaplaincy program, vocational program, 09:47 and the substance abuse programs in the prison. 09:50 So it is truly a network we have. 09:52 Yes, when they have taken advantage of the programs 09:55 that the state offer, and they have taken advantage 09:58 of curving their disciplinaries 10:00 and so forth and so on, 10:01 then they become eligible for our program. 10:03 So we then can legitimately be a reference for them. 10:07 So we go to the community, talk to the employers 10:09 of those who might employ them, 10:11 talk to them about their skills and what they offer 10:14 and what they can do for the company. 10:15 Okay. 10:17 And once we've done that, then the employers hire them, 10:21 but we don't stop working with them at that point. 10:23 We work with them throughout the job. 10:25 We even counsel and work with the people 10:27 who are already employed. 10:28 So you're actually involved in the person's life 10:31 for a long time from the time they're in prison. 10:33 It could be some years 10:34 that you're working with the same individual. 10:35 Exactly. That's great, that's great. 10:37 So I'm sure that could be a big impact 10:39 on an individual's life. 10:40 You know, there's a quote that says, 10:42 "It takes a whole village to raise a child." 10:45 And that's pretty interesting because 10:46 your entire network is set up just like that where 10:49 it's an entire system 10:51 that is trying to work with one individual 10:54 to help them have a better life. 10:55 That's very great. 10:57 Now, I want to ask you something 10:58 about the percentage rate, 11:00 not necessarily the percentage rate, 11:01 but do you see that when people follow these 11:04 three steps of your program, 11:06 that they have a better success rate 11:08 when they go out there to the community? 11:10 Well, recidivism seems to be the cue 11:14 for what is taking place today. 11:17 The states are collaborating, 11:19 they've been looking at what's happening 11:21 and what's working in different places around the country. 11:24 And what we see is really working today is, 11:27 when we include, not only what the prison system is doing, 11:32 'cause the prison system is really trying to 11:33 cut down on recidivism. 11:35 But everything they did so far has not worked. 11:38 So it knows that the family, the church, 11:41 and the community must be involved. 11:43 So what we're doing is just taking advantage of it. 11:46 Amen. 11:47 We know that it worked and that we know it worked 11:49 for a long time. 11:50 We haven't been invited in. 11:52 But now, we've been invited in 11:54 because we're all looking for the same success. 11:56 Okay, amen. 11:57 There are many that are not familiar with prison terms 12:00 and some of these words, you know, 12:02 as looking on your website 12:03 I noticed that you have some interesting words, 12:05 and the first one you even mentioned it a second ago, 12:07 you said "recidivism." 12:09 For those that don't understand what that word means, 12:10 can you explain a little bit? 12:12 Well, the lay man term, it is a revolving door, 12:15 people leaving the prison system 12:17 and returning to the prisons. 12:19 Okay, okay, thank you very much. 12:22 Another word that you have on your website 12:24 is "regeneration." 12:25 What exactly does regeneration mean? 12:27 Well, regeneration is used 12:29 at least four times in the Bible, 12:31 and it has the very same reason, 12:33 I mean, meaning as salvation. 12:35 Salvation. It is a born again experience. 12:37 Okay, a born again experience. 12:39 Webster's says it's a born again experience, 12:41 born anew. 12:42 Amen, amen. 12:43 Also you have a word on your website, 12:47 "jailhouse religion." 12:48 What exactly is jailhouse religion? 12:51 Well, those who volunteer, go into the prison system, 12:53 working with the chaplains in the prison system, 12:56 actually provide a religious base 12:59 or a spiritual base. 13:00 Okay. 13:02 Those who are incarcerated and take advantage of this, 13:04 they develop a spiritual base 13:07 to actually develop lifestyles, positive lifestyles. 13:11 We call it church. Okay. 13:14 All right, now when the individuals 13:16 leave the prison system 13:18 and they come back into the community, 13:20 and they talk about how they studied Bible, 13:23 and they became Christians in prison 13:24 but they go back to doing what they always have done. 13:28 We say they have jailhouse religion, 13:30 it becomes a negative. 13:32 But in actuality it's a positive. 13:34 Because jailhouse religion is a support system 13:38 that those who are incarcerated, 13:39 who choose to be Christians use to stay free 13:43 while they are in the system. 13:45 So what we have to do is replace the jailhouse religion 13:48 with our fellowship in the church with us, 13:52 therefore they'll have another support system on the outside. 13:55 Okay, amen. 13:56 You know, I remember when I was incarcerated, 13:58 the term is rampant, jailhouse religion, 14:00 and, you know, one thing about being incarcerated, 14:02 all the inmates try to figure out your information. 14:04 Everything you're doing, what crime you're here for, 14:06 what you do, things like that. 14:09 And, you know, there are some that I've noticed 14:11 that when they get incarcerated 14:13 due to being scared a little bit, 14:16 they say, "Well, okay, I'm gonna get involved 14:18 with the church group, with the Christians." 14:20 And it's not for the purpose 14:21 of wanting to change their life sometimes, 14:23 it's just kind of for a protection type thing. 14:25 So when they get out of prison, 14:27 they go right back to the same thing. 14:29 So this is the term of jailhouse religion, 14:31 a lot of time or some may even want to make changes 14:34 but, you know, the pull to doing wrong 14:36 is just so hard, and the one on the outside 14:38 looking in is saying, "That's jailhouse religion." 14:40 Even when they may be serious about it, 14:42 that's very interesting. 14:43 Thank you so much. 14:45 Also on your website, you have a term called 14:46 "A Christian Mentor." 14:48 What exactly is a "Christian Mentor?" 14:50 We know mentor to be one who sets an example. 14:54 Jesus was a mentor to 12, we know. 14:56 And those 12 became mentors to others, 14:59 maybe hundreds, and then even thousands. 15:01 Okay. 15:02 And we use Paul, Peter, John, Matthews, Luke. 15:05 We use them as mentors today, as examples. 15:08 Oh, yes. 15:09 So a mentor, a Christian mentor would be someone 15:11 who would have known this individual 15:15 while he was incarcerated, 15:16 would've known and gotten to know their family, 15:20 because we're working with them now, 15:22 during the pre-release program. 15:24 And then, when they come out of the institution, 15:26 this mentor would be the one 15:28 who meets them at the gate so to speak. 15:30 Amen, amen. That's good. 15:31 And work with them as they matriculate through, 15:34 getting a place to stay, house-- 15:36 I mean, housing and jobs 15:39 and getting back with their families, 15:40 even helping them reconcile 15:42 some differences in their families 15:44 if it's at all possible, to be a good friend. 15:47 Okay, so will this Christian mentor 15:48 stay with the one individual or however many individuals 15:51 the Christian mentor may have? 15:53 Will he stay or he or she stay with that individual 15:55 for a process of time? 15:57 Well, the training will include the necessities to match. 16:01 Okay. 16:03 And sometimes you might not match properly. 16:05 Okay. And so you switch off. 16:07 Whatever it takes to find the right match 16:10 to meet the needs 16:11 because we believe in meeting the needs. 16:13 Strength meeting need is strength building on strength. 16:16 Okay. 16:18 So if a person has a need 16:19 and the person they're mentoring 16:20 have the same need, that wouldn't be a good match. 16:22 I understand. 16:23 It would have to build strength to meet the need. 16:25 Okay. So it's always monitored. 16:27 They're always having regular sessions 16:30 where we come together and reassess everything 16:33 so that we can make the proper match 16:36 so that we have a strength meeting the need. 16:38 That's great. Yeah, the ministry is great. 16:40 TheXoffender Network is great. 16:42 You know, people really do need that support system, 16:44 especially when they're getting out. 16:46 So often people get out of jail, prison, 16:48 whatever it may be, and there's nobody there. 16:51 Even while they're incarcerated, 16:52 they have no loved ones to write them, 16:54 no one to put money on their books. 16:55 There was nothing there. 16:57 So there was no support system, so when they get out, 16:59 it's kind of like, "Well, what do I do now? 17:01 I have nobody to love me." 17:02 And it's kind of like you just fall right back 17:04 into the same exact things over and again. 17:06 You know, what I want to do right now, 17:08 we're gonna come back to your ministry, 17:09 but I want to talk a little bit about your testimony. 17:11 You have a very powerful testimony. 17:13 You weren't always involved in prison ministries, 17:15 you weren't always on this side of the fence. 17:17 Tell us a little bit about your early life. 17:20 Well, I'll go back early. 17:22 I had a vision when I was 12 years old 17:24 that I was an eagle flying in the midst of eagles. 17:26 Wow. 17:28 Well, this didn't actually lead to that in my early life 17:30 because before I was 20 years old, 17:32 I was incarcerated 14 times in 8 different states. 17:36 Wow, what were some of those states 17:37 you were incarcerated in? 17:38 Well, I was incarcerated in Alabama, North Carolina, 17:42 Massachusetts, New York, 17:48 out in California, Washington State. 17:51 Wow. Wow. 17:52 What were some of the crimes that you were convicted of 17:55 in some of these different states? 17:57 Most had to do with drugs. 17:59 Drug related charges, okay. 18:00 And the procurement of drugs. 18:02 Okay, okay. 18:03 So did you, yourself sell drugs, 18:05 did you use drugs and what are some of those drugs 18:07 that you were involved? 18:09 I sold drugs and I used drugs. I OD'd on drugs three times. 18:11 It was twice that the doctors-- 18:13 actually the prognosis was clinical death. 18:15 Wow. So God actually saved you. 18:18 He saved you because actually you could've been dead 18:21 from overdose, several times you could've been dead, 18:23 but the Lord saved you. 18:24 That's a testimony in itself. 18:26 Well, actually I was in New York, in Rikers Island, 18:29 getting ready to go upstate in New York. 18:30 Infamous Rikers Island. 18:32 Infamous Rikers Island, 18:35 and instead of going upstate to do some serious prison time, 18:38 'cause I never did any serious prison time... 18:40 Okay. 18:42 I was actually mandated to a rehab program, 18:46 Phoenix house, 18 months I spent in rehab. 18:48 Okay. 18:50 And it was in Rikers Island that I picked up a Bible 18:53 for the first time in my life at 20 years old. 18:55 Wow, first time in your life. 18:56 That's been several years ago, now. 18:59 And I've never put it down, never backslid, 19:02 never gave up the faith, never, you know, 19:04 just steadily going forward with the Word of God. 19:08 Now, when you first picked up that Bible, I hear, 19:10 you know, several stories of people that pick up a Bible, 19:13 especially the King James Version Bible at first 19:16 and they start reading it, they just say, 19:17 "You know, I don't understand any of the stuff 19:19 that's going on here in the Bible. 19:20 The Bible is boring, I don't understand. 19:22 I don't understand what's happening." 19:23 Did you have that same issue? 19:25 No, I believe what Jesus says, 19:27 "I didn't choose Him, He chose me." 19:29 That's powerful. 19:30 So when I picked up the Bible, 19:32 it became very plain to me. 19:33 It was very plain. 19:35 For three weeks I studied the Bible, 19:37 actually got into a heated discussion 19:39 with some Muslims, Five Percenters, 19:42 who actually were trying to recruit 19:46 some people in the cell that I was in. 19:48 I was from Alabama and they were all from New York, 19:51 so I didn't speak their language, 19:52 so I actually confronted them. 19:54 And they swore to kill me the next day. 19:58 And that's how I actually got out of Rikers Island 20:01 into a drug program because I was isolated. 20:04 And in my isolation, 20:06 a recruiter from the Phoenix House drug program 20:08 came in and then represented me in court 20:10 and I ended up going into drug rehab 20:13 rather than going to prison. 20:14 But it was through the Bible studies, 20:16 just the three weeks with the Bible. 20:17 Now, as you were younger, what were some of 20:19 the underlying factors that you noticed that 20:22 tended to lead you to start using drugs, 20:24 selling drugs, things like that? 20:26 Well, it was my environment. 20:27 Okay, what was that environment like? 20:30 Well, it was all, I had no father, 20:33 never met my father. 20:34 Okay. And had no big brother. 20:36 Okay. So the mentors... 20:38 Yeah, they came from streets. They were the streets. 20:39 The streets were my mentors. Yeah. 20:41 By the time I was 11, on my 11th birthday, 20:44 I was actually incarcerated 20:45 in juvenile court for running a bicycle ring. 20:49 Where we'd steal bikes from one side of the track 20:51 and sell them on the other side of the track, 20:53 and it was just everything around me 20:57 was a negative environment 20:59 and I just went on and on with this negative environment 21:02 until I picked up that Bible in Rikers Island, 21:04 New York at 20 years old. 21:05 Amen. What actually led you to that point at 20 years old 21:09 to want to finally make that decision 21:11 that, "You know what? 21:12 I'm sick of this, I'm tired of running, 21:14 I'm ready for the change." 21:15 I know for myself, you know, I had to hit rock bottom. 21:17 I tried changing before, but in my mind it was still, 21:20 you know, I still want to try this a little bit, 21:22 I still want to, you know, do this, experience that. 21:24 But when I hit the point of rock bottom, it was, 21:27 you know what, I'm tired of this, 21:28 I'm tired of going in that same circle, 21:30 over and over and again, 21:32 and I can't get out of this thing. 21:33 And I ended up calling on the name of Jesus 21:36 and He saved me. 21:37 What was it, the underline cause 21:39 that made you decide, "You know what, 21:41 I'm ready for change"? 21:43 Well, even when I picked up the Bible, 21:44 I wasn't serious about the Bible, 21:46 it was just something to do. 21:47 Yeah. 21:49 And, but through studying the Bible, 21:50 they labelled me the preacher. 21:52 The preacher. 21:53 And when they labelled me the preacher, 21:54 and I moved from Rikers Island to Phoenix House, 21:56 into a rehab program, where this title went with me. 21:59 So they would call me the preacher. 22:01 So even in this drug rehab program 22:03 which was completely secular program, 22:05 no religion, no anything there, I still kept with that Bible. 22:09 And I knew that if I was gonna change my lifestyle 22:12 it was gonna take more than what they were doing 22:15 in this program, the secular program. 22:17 So it was through being in this program 22:20 and remembering the vision that I had at 12 years old, 22:23 that I was an eagle flying in the midst of eagles, 22:25 I started, I said, why don't I develop my own program? 22:28 Yeah, okay. 22:29 So in order to, for me, to overcome my drug habit 22:32 and other lifestyle that I had, in order for me to do it, 22:35 I used the Bible in that program 22:38 and combined the two and I developed a program for me. 22:42 Well, it's only been for the last few years 22:44 that I actually been sharing this with other people. 22:47 I've kept all this to myself 22:48 as a personal medicine for me to stay straight, 22:52 and I've been drug-free now for 36 years. 22:55 Praise the Lord, praise the Lord. 22:56 It's a good feeling, isn't it? Oh, it's a good feeling. 22:57 It's a great feeling. 22:59 Matter of fact, I know no other feeling now. 23:01 But then I started sharing this concept with others, 23:05 and I've been sharing it all over the world now, 23:08 in three different countries and all over the US, 23:11 sharing this concept to help others overcome. 23:13 Amen. 23:14 What are some of those Biblical principles 23:16 that helped you overcome? 23:17 Well, first in John 15:5, 23:21 the latter part of it simply says, Jesus says, 23:24 "Without Me ye can do nothing." 23:25 Can't do anything. 23:27 Now, once you accept, 23:28 "without Me, ye can do nothing," 23:31 without the power of God, 23:32 without faith in the power of God, 23:34 you cannot overcome anything, and you accept that, 23:37 then the second principle is, "I can do all things 23:42 through Christ who strengthens me." 23:43 Philippians 4:13. Amen. Philippians 4:13. 23:45 So between those two there's no excuse. 23:48 Okay. 23:50 Now I know that sounds very simple 23:51 but it is the hardest thing any human being can do. 23:54 Yeah, it is. 23:55 See, because planet earth is actually 23:57 a universal penal colony. 23:58 We were all born in sin, shaped in inequity. 24:00 Yeah, that's right. 24:02 All right, therefore, the first inmate 24:04 on planet earth is Satan and his demons. 24:07 Yeah. Okay. All right. 24:09 They were the first inmates with a death sentence 24:11 without the possibility of parole. 24:13 Adam and Eve was locked out of the Garden of Eden. 24:16 Therefore they became inmates on planet earth 24:19 and all of us were born in sin. 24:22 All right, shaped in inequity. 24:24 So we have to accept, number one, 24:26 we can do nothing without the power of God in our lives. 24:30 Yes. 24:31 But step two, "I can do all things through Christ 24:33 who strengthens me." 24:35 Between those two there is no excuses whatsoever. 24:38 But if by chance we do stumble, we do end up back 24:43 where we do not want to be then step three is, 24:50 1 John 1:9, 24:52 "If I confess my sins, 24:54 he is faithful and just to forgive me." 24:56 So if I recognize that God's word is right 25:00 and I'm wrong, and accept that, then God forgives me 25:04 and cleanses me from all unrighteousness 25:07 or He puts me back in right standing with Him. 25:10 So it's ABC, we accept we can do nothing without Him. 25:14 We believe we can do all things through Him. 25:16 And we confess when we make the mistake 25:19 and step out of line. 25:21 That's amazing. 25:22 And then, with that, now it takes 25:24 several different things we don't have time to discuss 25:27 to actually develop that particular concept. 25:30 But that is the basic of what we actually teach you. 25:34 So that's an ABC process. ABC, 123. 25:37 Amen, amen. 25:38 You know, what was interesting is, 25:39 in the beginning of that you said 25:41 it sounds a little simple. 25:43 But it's actually deep, because one of the hardest things 25:45 for humanity to do is believe that we need God, 25:48 or we need somebody to help us with something. 25:50 The text says we can't do anything apart from God. 25:53 So often, humanity says, "Look, I can do things. 25:56 I can do something for myself." 25:58 But in reality, humanity can't. 26:00 We can't do anything apart from God. 26:02 So though the ABC, 123 process sounds simple, 26:05 it's actually hard. 26:07 It's actually, can be difficult. 26:08 Well, actually what is happening is, 26:10 the secular world has tried everything it has, 26:13 and has failed miserably. 26:15 So the secular world is saying, 26:16 "If we're gonna get a handle on recidivism, 26:19 if we're gonna get a handle on stopping people 26:21 from returning to the prison system 26:24 and get a cure and do some kind of 26:27 a change in the spike of crime in society, 26:31 we're going to have to invite those in." 26:34 You remember the story about the young man 26:36 who was a paraplegic, 26:39 and three of his friends showed up? 26:41 One came from the department of mental health, 26:43 another came from the department of social health, 26:46 and another one came from the department of physical health. 26:49 And they did everything they could to help him. 26:51 But this young preacher showed up, and said, 26:53 "I know a man." 26:55 And when the four of them 26:57 equally balanced this young man, 27:00 took him to the rooftop, and lowered him down 27:04 to the feet of Jesus, Jesus looked up at the rooftop, 27:08 at those who had taken the risk 27:10 of cutting a hole in the roof and lowering him down. 27:14 Jesus said to them, 27:15 "Your faith has made this man whole." 27:18 Amen. 27:19 And He told the man, "Pick up your cot, and walk." 27:22 And that's what we do as the church, 27:25 when we join in with the social workers, 27:28 the mental health workers and the physical health workers. 27:32 When we join in with them, we become the ones 27:36 who take them to the feet of Jesus. 27:38 Okay, that's amazing, that's amazing. 27:39 Elder Tony Hall, wish we had more time to delve 27:41 into your testimony and more about your ministry, 27:44 it's so amazing. 27:45 Since we don't have time, can you provide 27:47 your contact information 27:48 so viewers can get in contact with you? 27:50 Yes. 27:51 I'm Tony Hall, director of TheXoffender Network. 27:55 Web address is thexoffender.net. 27:58 Phone number, you can reach us at 334-876-7093. 28:05 Thank you so much, Elder Hall, for being on our show. 28:07 Viewers, you have just heard an amazing testimony, 28:10 an amazing ministry. 28:12 You may have loved ones that are incarcerated 28:14 and want to see them succeed when they come out. 28:16 I encourage you, get into contact 28:17 with TheXoffender Network 28:19 and join us on the next "New Journey." |
Revised 2015-09-28