Participants: Aaron Chancy (Host), Pr. Ricky Wade
Series Code: TNJ
Program Code: TNJ000045
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00:01 The following program discusses sensitive issues.
00:03 Parents are cautioned that some material 00:05 may be too candid for younger children. 00:08 Today, we'll meet a former drug user 00:10 and alcohol abuser but is now a pastor 00:13 in the Seventh-day Adventist Church. 00:15 Join us on today's New Journey. 00:48 Welcome back to The New Journey. 00:49 On today's program, we have Pastor Ricky Wade. 00:52 Pastor Wade, we thank you for being on the program today. 00:55 Well, I appreciate being here. 00:56 Yes, sir. Yes, sir. 00:57 For the record, Pastor Wade, where are you from? 00:59 I'm from Portland, Tennessee. 01:00 It's a small little town 01:02 close to the border of Kentucky. 01:04 Okay. 01:05 I grew up there my whole life. Okay, okay. 01:07 Now let's jump into your family background. 01:09 What was it like growing up in your household 01:11 as a young man? 01:13 We grew up Seventh-day Adventist. 01:14 We went to church on a regular basis. 01:16 I don't remember missing church for practically anything. 01:20 We just enjoyed going to church. 01:21 Okay, now it's interesting, 01:23 your background is similar to mine growing up. 01:25 I grew up in a Seventh-day Adventist home, 01:27 both mother and father, 01:28 but it led me to various things that aren't typical, 01:32 I guess, for that type of growing up. 01:35 You stated when we talked before 01:38 that you got kicked out of school in the seventh grade. 01:41 What was going on? 01:42 Actually you were going to Adventist school. 01:44 Sure, I was going to the school there in the Highland community 01:48 and had a principal. 01:50 He paddled me. 01:52 It left some marks on me, left some distinct bruising. 01:57 It looked like we might end up in court over it. 02:01 My father ended up meeting with the school board. 02:03 The church board got involved, 02:05 and they just asked him not to pursue 02:07 that route so we didn't. 02:09 When it came close to my eighth grade year 02:11 and enrollment for that year, 02:12 the school said that I was not going 02:15 to be allowed to enroll, 02:17 and so I finished out my school in public school. 02:21 I went to Portland High and graduated in 1987. 02:23 Okay, so you went to mixture of public school 02:26 as well as Seventh-day Adventist school. 02:27 Correct. Okay, okay. 02:29 Now you eventually did get into the drugs and alcohol 02:32 down the line. 02:33 What was going on internally? 02:35 Or what caused you to lean toward that type of lifestyle? 02:39 You know, having been rejected, 02:44 so to speak, from eighth grade, 02:47 I ended up with a little bit of a chip 02:48 on my shoulder toward Adventism, 02:51 toward the Christian walk in general 02:54 and whether I had remained at Highland or, in this case, 02:59 whenever I went to Portland, some of my circle of friends, 03:03 they started experimenting 03:05 with marijuana and with alcohol. 03:07 And by about my 11th grade year, 03:11 especially probably at the beginning 03:13 of my senior year, I was experimenting with both. 03:17 And in my senior year, 03:19 I was just a little bit more than experimenting. 03:21 I would sell pot on a regular basis 03:24 to help finance my own. 03:27 It wasn't a habit at that point 03:28 but just trying to be part of the in-group. 03:33 Miami Vice was pushing all this glamorous drug 03:38 and so, I just kind of got caught up 03:40 in that scene as well. 03:41 Now you said something interesting, 03:42 you said Miami Vice was kind of glorifying some things. 03:46 How much of an impact do you think 03:47 that entertainment had on your lifestyle at that time? 03:50 It had a decent impact. 03:52 Miami Vice came on Friday night 03:55 and although I was engaged in some of the things, 03:57 I didn't get to watch Miami Vice. 04:00 You know, we cut the TV off, 04:02 we were not overly conservative Christians, 04:06 but when Friday night came, we put on the music 04:10 and all the other entertainments 04:11 were eliminated... 04:13 Okay. We began the Sabbath. 04:15 Now growing up did you ever have resentment 04:19 towards Seventh-day Adventism? 04:20 And I ask that because, you know, 04:22 I remember growing up as a young man, 04:24 and you know, you see all your other friends 04:26 on Friday night, Saturdays, you know they are doing things, 04:29 they're going to school dances and all, 04:31 and you cannot do that. 04:32 So it's kind of like a resentment 04:34 towards the Sabbath and the Church. 04:36 Did you ever feel that? I did. 04:38 But by the time my senior year rolled around, I had... 04:42 On Friday evenings I would go to the football games, 04:46 I went to the dances, I had just, you know, 04:51 my relationship with my parents, 04:53 you know, I told them look, 04:54 this is what my friends are doing, 04:56 and this is what I want to do, 04:57 so up until about my junior or my senior year, 05:01 we did all of the Sabbath stuff, 05:03 and I still didn't watch TV at home, 05:05 but I would go to the football games, 05:07 and I would go to the dances. 05:08 So, at home my parents 05:10 maintained conservative Adventism, 05:14 but on my own I went my own direction unfortunately. 05:18 Now you eventually went to the Navy, 05:20 and you started drinking, rather heavily at Navy. 05:23 At what age did you go in 05:24 and what was going on in your life 05:26 that was causing you to drink so much? 05:28 Sure, my senior year, I turned 18, 05:31 graduated at the end of May. 05:34 The first of June, I had bought a motorcycle, 05:39 I thought I was going to be Tom Cruise, 05:40 and that's what I had envisioned the Navy to be. 05:46 The second of July, I was in boot camp, 05:50 so I just graduated, went directly into boot camp, 05:53 and then by the time I got on the ship, 05:55 that's what everyone on the ship did. 05:58 If you did not have duty that particular day, 06:01 you went out and drank. 06:03 And sometimes it was a little but more often it was a lot. 06:07 Okay. 06:08 Now, you told me before that you would drink 06:12 and then later on you would pray at night. 06:15 Why would you do that? 06:16 Would it be a guilty feeling that was going on or... 06:19 It was just like a security blanket, 06:21 you know, I would be so drunk sometimes 06:25 that I would lay down and the room would be spinning 06:27 and I actually enjoyed that, just spin myself off to sleep, 06:31 but before I would go to sleep, I would pray, 06:34 you know, my standard prayer and ask for forgiveness 06:37 knowing that tomorrow 06:39 I am gonna be engaged in the same activity. 06:40 Doing the same thing. 06:42 Yeah, I have been there many times. 06:44 You know you're doing wrong, 06:45 you kind of give this little prayer 06:46 but, you know, the very next day 06:48 you're gonna do the same exact thing 06:50 and I guess that's a part of, you know, 06:52 as growing up in the Seventh-day Adventist Church 06:54 or growing up as a Christian as a whole. 06:56 Things are ingrained in you, 06:58 and even though you're doing wrong, 07:01 you tend to, you know, you still go to church, 07:02 maybe still pray a little bit, 07:04 but your heart really isn't in it 07:06 as it should be. 07:08 Now, you said that you were married, 07:11 you got divorced, and then remarried, 07:13 what was going on in this situation? 07:14 Sure, I married Christie. 07:17 She was a girl that we had grown up together. 07:19 I've known Christie since we were just little kids. 07:21 We've got a picture album, 07:23 where we were playing baby dolls, 07:24 and the baby dolls was 07:26 our younger brothers and sisters... 07:28 This was your childhood sweetheart. 07:29 So to speak, yeah. 07:31 We fell in love so to speak at a very young age 07:36 and then finally admitted that we were in love, 07:38 but we both got engaged in drugs and alcohol, 07:43 and she developed an addiction, and it really started 07:47 interfering with life in general. 07:50 And for 12 years we dealt with the addiction 07:54 and finally I just got to a breaking point 07:57 and of all the things that I truly regret, 08:00 I regret that I used divorce as a tool to try to heal us. 08:05 Okay. 08:07 But we have been divorced actually two times. 08:11 Yeah, okay, well. Went through it a second time. 08:14 We got remarried. 08:16 She had gone through a program 08:18 and I thought that it was behind us. 08:20 Okay. 08:21 Her addiction resurfaced 08:23 and I said, "Lord, I just can't take it! 08:25 I'm weak." Okay. 08:27 And as a result, we started the process again 08:31 and this time I was awarded full custody, 08:34 and praise the Lord, I can hardly contain myself, 08:39 she has been clean and sober, 08:42 it will be five years this fall. 08:43 Praise the Lord. 08:45 Now, what was some of the drug 08:46 that you and your wife were using together? 08:50 Marijuana was the big drug. 08:53 We kind of separated because I've used LSD. 08:57 I've been on a trip, 09:02 you know, several times 09:05 and at first on the West Coast, 09:08 that's when crystal methamphetamine was huge, 09:12 and I tried crystal but it didn't present 09:17 what I was looking for in a drug. 09:19 Now the LSD and the meth and some of the other drugs, 09:21 what effects did you see upon your mind, your body 09:25 as you were using these drugs? 09:27 Well, LSD, you know, 09:29 you are going to have hallucinations 09:31 and, you know, I would have 09:33 some pretty major hallucinations. 09:37 One of the very first times that I did LSD, 09:40 I took a number of hits, 09:43 and it started on a Friday evening, 09:46 and it lasted all the way 09:48 until in the am of Monday morning. 09:51 So you were pretty much be awake 09:52 for that whole time? 09:53 Oh, you are awake, your heart is beating 09:55 like 200 beats a minute. 09:58 The room, 09:59 when you're standing still, it will look 10:02 as if it's breathing the ceiling, 10:05 whenever there is textured things, 10:07 they look like they are moving, just mind games. 10:12 You know, I understand that 10:14 being that I used to be on cocaine and ecstasy, 10:18 I used a little bit of heroin, and all of these various drugs, 10:22 and I would be up for days. 10:24 I mean, the longest I've been up 10:26 is four or five days, just wide awake. 10:28 You know, you're tired, you try to go to sleep, 10:30 you lie down, but as soon as you lie down, 10:32 your eyes get real big and you can't go to sleep 10:35 and, you know, when I started school, 10:39 I thought that, because I had used drugs 10:41 for years that, you know, 10:42 my mind will be kind of all eaten away and, 10:45 but the Lord had blessed. 10:46 The Lord had very much blessed 10:48 to where even though I had used drugs for a long time, 10:51 I was still able to excel in school later on. 10:54 So have you seen that even though you used the drugs 10:58 that you have been able to excel in various things? 11:01 I did. 11:02 In my undergraduate degree, I've a Bs in Psychology. 11:05 And my undergraduate degree, I graduated with a 389, 11:10 but I was still drinking and after every exam 11:13 I'd get high of being in celebration. 11:15 Okay the test is over. 11:17 That's download, get ready for this information. 11:18 The reward itself, yeah. Yeah. 11:21 But now I'm currently enrolled at Andrews, 11:24 I'm working on my Macman, 11:25 Master of Arts in Pastoral Ministry, 11:28 and I'm maintaining 4.0 currently. 11:30 Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. 11:31 Now let's back up a little bit. 11:34 Before you got to pastoring, you know, 11:36 somebody introduced you to the Amazing Facts, 11:38 the Amazing Facts Bible study lesson. 11:40 Talk about what happened with that? 11:43 It was the day that my son Jake was actually born. 11:46 And Demetrius was a friend of mine. 11:49 Demetrius came in. 11:50 He was working at the hospital that day, 11:53 and he and I began to dialogue. 11:57 He asked me where my relationship 11:58 was with the Lord 12:00 and we spoke for just a little bit 12:03 and on his lunch break he came back 12:05 and he gave me an Amazing Facts track, 12:06 I can't remember exactly which one it was, 12:09 but I began to study with a little more depth, 12:12 and the Lord convicted my heart 12:15 that I really didn't have a relationship with him. 12:18 And by July 5th of that same year, 12:22 that was 1997. 12:24 Okay. 12:25 I was re-baptized 12:27 and began a new journey with Christ. 12:29 Okay. Praise the Lord. Amen. 12:31 Now it's interesting, okay, you were re-baptized 12:33 but then you eventually got caught in an insurance fraud. 12:36 Yes, sir. Talk about that experience? 12:40 This would have been in the fall of 1998 12:43 so not too long of a period, 12:46 close to a year and a half had gone by. 12:51 We had a vacation plan to Florida 12:54 and just prior to going on that vacation, 12:57 I had asked a guy that I had grown up with, 13:03 but he still was involved in a behavior and a lifestyle 13:08 that didn't represent Christianity. 13:10 I asked him, "Hey, while we are gone, 13:12 would you break into the house and take whatever you want, 13:15 you know, it's yours 13:16 whatever you like to do with it. 13:18 Okay. 13:19 He got caught, he turned state's evidence, 13:21 he wore a mike, had some recordings 13:24 of he and I discussing what had happened 13:27 and so I got convicted for a Class C felony 13:32 for attempted insurance fraud. 13:34 Okay. Now how did... 13:36 Being that you were just recently baptized, 13:38 how did the church respond? 13:41 Being that just came back in, baptized, praise the Lord, 13:44 and then you set up something for your house 13:47 to be broken into. 13:48 How did the church view it? 13:50 Well, they had a church business meeting, 13:52 an emergency church business meeting 13:55 and at that meeting there were tons of people. 13:58 Okay. 13:59 And they decided that they would... 14:02 I was a Sabbath school teacher for the adult class 14:05 and was really trying to work my way into becoming an elder 14:09 but I had one foot on either side 14:11 of the fence obviously, the felony proves that. 14:14 Yeah. 14:16 Can't serve two masters, that's for sure. 14:17 No, you can't. 14:18 And they decided they would put a sensor on me for one year. 14:22 Okay. Okay. 14:23 Now you eventually went to Arise 14:25 under the leadership of David Asscherick, 14:28 how did that transpire? 14:29 David Asscherick came to Kentucky-Ten camp meeting, 14:31 which is there in the Highland community 14:33 that's where Kentucky-Ten holds their camp meeting each year. 14:36 And while he was there, he preached a sermon 14:40 and his appeal at the end was, this, 14:43 what he had been preaching about 14:45 is what Jesus did for you. 14:47 What are you doing for him? Yeah. 14:49 So I pull out my checklist, you know, 14:51 I'm faithfully paying tithe, 14:53 my kids go to Sabbath school every week, 14:56 but in the end it just really didn't amount 14:59 to what I was being convicted of. 15:02 So David and I spoke, 15:03 he told me that he had a school. 15:07 I didn't even know who David Asscherick was. 15:09 He told me that he had the school 15:11 of evangelism for lay people 15:14 that were interested in getting involved in ministry 15:16 and I just felt a strong conviction 15:18 to follow that. 15:20 Okay. So, how did it go at Arise? 15:22 What did you learn at Arise? 15:23 And after that you became a Bible worker. 15:25 Talk a little bit about that? 15:27 You chain your Bible, 15:30 you go through practice scenarios. 15:32 You learn the importance of an evangelistic cycle 15:36 and you are actively involved the whole time. 15:38 You go to different communities, 15:40 you knock on doors, 15:41 you try to generate Bible studies, 15:43 and then you try to encourage those Bible studies 15:45 to attend the prophesy seminar at the very end. 15:49 It was fantastic, a very great experience. 15:51 Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. 15:53 And because of the Bible worker 15:54 that's why you are actually a pastor right now. 15:57 Let's talk about how it led to that 15:58 in the South Central Conference and the only Caucasian 16:02 in the South Central Conference. 16:05 Yeah it was great, you know, 16:06 the sensor that I was talking about earlier, 16:10 it ended up lasting for almost 10 years and... 16:12 Wow, and originally it was only a year, right? 16:14 Only supposed to be a year. 16:16 I get back from Arise, I asked the current pastor, 16:19 "Hey, would you mind if I get behind the pulpit and preach, 16:22 I'm excited, I'm on fire." 16:24 And he took it to the board 16:28 and the board even 10 years after the fax said, 16:31 "You know we don't fill at this time." 16:33 So I continue to do Bible work. 16:35 I did Bible work in Kentucky-Ten 16:38 and eventually South Central Church asked me 16:42 if I would be interested in coming 16:44 and being a Bible worker for them. 16:46 Okay. I started in September. 16:49 It'll be three years this fall. Okay. 16:52 And from September until December, 16:54 we were doing some jail ministry work, 16:56 I had a number of baptisms 16:58 and I got to meet with President Dana Edmonds, 17:01 the president of South Central, 17:03 and he asked me if I would be interested 17:06 in being the lay pastor for the Joelton, 17:11 North Cheatham Seventh-day Adventist Church. 17:13 And I whole heartedly embraced it. 17:16 so God had a sense of humor, 17:18 where I couldn't be used in the Kentucky-Ten Conference, 17:22 I end up getting picked up in South Central 17:25 and God continues to open the door 17:26 because the North American Division is actually... 17:30 They're paying for me to get my master's. 17:32 So praise the Lord. 17:33 Now, how did it make you feel? 17:36 You just finished Arise, 17:38 you wanted to come to the church 17:39 and get behind the pulpit but they didn't let you. 17:41 For some people, they would have taken that, 17:44 you know, forget it, you know, 17:45 gone back to their old lifestyle. 17:47 But you, you didn't do that. 17:48 How did that make you feel internally though, 17:51 when they said, "No, you couldn't 17:52 get behind the pulpit." 17:54 You know, if we are not careful, 17:55 we will let our human emotions block and shut doors 17:57 that God is opening. 17:59 And so, when I originally went to Arise, 18:03 I filled out the paperwork, sent in the application, 18:06 and they called me and they said 18:07 it's all full for this year. 18:09 Christie and I had just gotten remarried, 18:11 we're on our second honeymoon in Florida 18:15 and that's when we get the call. 18:17 I'm a little disappointed but I get back to Nashville, 18:20 I was driving a semi at the time 18:23 and I get a call on a Friday afternoon 18:27 and it's someone from Arise and they said, 18:30 "Hey, we have had someone 18:31 that's not gonna able to make it, 18:33 would you still like to come?" 18:34 And I said, "If you give me about an hour, 18:37 I will be able to give you an answer." 18:38 I hang up the phone, I called Christie, 18:40 she said, "Great! 18:42 This is the answer, prayer what we have been praying about." 18:44 I hung up the phone, I called the guy 18:46 that I was driving for, 18:48 I said, "Eddie, today is my last day, 18:50 I'm headed to Arise." 18:52 We had discussed, he knew what it was about, 18:55 and you know, my prayer was, "Lord, if I take this step, 19:01 we were in enormous debt. 19:03 We've got $70,000 to go to Arise, 19:06 it is going to cost another $4,000 or $5, 000 19:09 by the time I have all my expenses 19:12 included in that. 19:13 Lord, I don't know how I am going to do it, 19:15 but if this is the door you are opening, 19:17 I will stay in full time ministry 19:19 for the rest of my life." 19:21 Praise the Lord, that's where we are at today. 19:23 He keeps opening doors 19:24 and I keep walking through them. 19:26 Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. 19:27 Now, you are involved with the discipleship program. 19:29 Yes, sir. 19:30 Talk about how the discipleship program works? 19:32 The discipleship program is simply... 19:35 It's a program that helps any Christian 19:39 but especially younger Christians 19:42 reach new heights of maturity. 19:45 You work with them. 19:46 You teach them 19:47 how to increase their prayer life, 19:50 how to enrich their prayer life, 19:52 and as they continue to grow, 19:54 eventually they will get to a point 19:56 where they can disciple others. 19:58 So you invest a large amount of time 20:00 into just one or two people 20:02 and eventually it will grow 20:05 as they begin to disciple others. 20:07 Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. 20:08 Now you mentioned a few minutes ago 20:10 about the jail ministry, 20:13 talk to me about how you got involved 20:15 in the jail ministry 20:16 and the results of the jail ministry? 20:19 Danny Hanson was a friend of mine 20:21 from the Highland Church, and he asked me to come down 20:24 and be a part of the jail ministry. 20:27 At first, I was a little reluctant, 20:28 I really didn't want to work with that group and that crowd, 20:32 but as I started getting involved, 20:35 I found that they were eager, they were always hungry 20:38 and you could always find someone to talk to. 20:40 You would go down, you pull... 20:44 Well, you don't pull up a chair because they are cement tables, 20:47 but you would sit down at one of the tables. 20:50 And 3, 5, 15, and sometimes 20:53 I would have 30 guys out of 60 people in a pod 20:56 that would come up. 20:58 They would listen, they would ask questions 21:00 and it's challenging. 21:01 Because you have got all these different denominations 21:03 and so they're coming at you with their proof text 21:07 and then you have to unpack the text 21:10 and actually show them the truth. 21:12 As you're revealing the truth, you can see it in their face, 21:15 in their eyes, 21:17 the conviction that's starting to just be pouring over them 21:20 and then to watch them embrace that conviction, 21:24 follow that conviction, 21:26 and then develop an eternal, hopefully, 21:28 an eternal relationship with the Lord. 21:30 It's just fantastic. Praise the Lord. 21:31 Now let me ask this, 21:32 why were you a little bit reluctant 21:34 at first to do the jail mission? 21:36 Oh, because I had a felony 21:37 and birds of a feather flock together 21:40 and so you know I might be associated in a way 21:44 that I didn't want to be associated 21:46 with that particular group. 21:47 I just wanted to break free from all of that, 21:50 but God blessed, as a matter of fact, 21:53 this year I finally got my rights restored 21:56 so I can vote again, I can hold public office, 21:58 I can do all those things 22:00 that forever I didn't have the right to do. 22:02 Okay. 22:03 What were some of the results 22:05 of when you received that class C felony? 22:07 Were you placed on probation, or what happened with that? 22:10 Sure, when I first got arrested, 22:13 I spent just a few hours in jail, 22:14 I bonded out and then I ended up 22:17 on like a four-year probation. 22:19 I had to do a million hours of community service where, 22:24 you know, in that range 22:25 because you'd work for one place for a while 22:28 and then, they would, 22:30 you'd be finished with everything, 22:31 they will have you to do 22:32 and then you are transferred to somewhere else. 22:35 Had a few fines to pay. Okay. 22:37 And within a short period though, 22:40 once a month you would have to check in 22:41 with a probation officer 22:43 but once I got all my fines paid, 22:45 and I finally got all of the hours done, 22:48 within about a year and a half, 22:50 I was put on a non supervised and... 22:52 Non supervised probation, okay. 22:55 Then you just finish it out 22:56 and then you just have the permanent tattoo, 23:00 you're a convicted fellow. 23:01 Oh yes. It's there. 23:04 For those that, let's say, 23:05 they've never been incarcerated, 23:07 never been involved in drugs, alcohol, or anything 23:09 but they have a burning desire for people, for ministry, 23:13 would you encourage them 23:15 to get involved in a prison ministry 23:16 or jail ministry anything like that? 23:19 Find some ministry, find a ministry, 23:21 even if you don't think you are interested in it. 23:24 Let God lead, and as He leads, He'll open up the doors. 23:28 He'll show you things that you're interested in, 23:30 show you things that you might not know 23:33 that you were interested in that He can press 23:35 upon your heart and help develop. 23:39 In looking back over your life, the many things 23:42 that you have been involved with the drugs, 23:44 the alcohol, the marriage, 23:46 remarriage, divorced, remarried, 23:49 what are some of the regrets that you may have? 23:52 You know, today in the Seventh-day Adventist 23:56 culture and world, we tend to glorify stories 24:00 like the story that I have. 24:02 And really and truthfully I wish 24:03 that I could have been 24:05 someone that never went through that 24:07 and we could be talking about Praise the Lord 24:10 that I stayed on the path of righteousness. 24:13 But Romans 2:4 says that, 24:15 God's goodness brought me to true repentance. 24:18 Praise the Lord. 24:20 And because of that I can share the story 24:22 and hopefully encourage others, you know, 24:25 even if it looks like your life has started down a path 24:29 that is going to end in destruction, 24:32 God's calling and if you'll just listen. 24:34 His arm is long enough to reach you 24:37 in the worst situation 24:38 that life may have thrown your way 24:40 or that you may have embraced, 24:42 and walked down that path but He will lead you back 24:45 to the path of righteousness, 24:46 and He will give you opportunities to witness 24:49 and bring others along with you. 24:50 That's the greatest burden upon my heart today 24:54 is to seek and save the lost. 24:56 You know, we just aren't doing that in North America. 24:59 The majority of our churches, 25:02 the pastors are just maintenance pastors, 25:04 we're just maintaining the church. 25:07 I wanna church that desires to get out 25:09 and engage in evangelism, get out and actually seek 25:13 and save the lost. 25:15 And put the excuses on the shelf at home 25:17 and come to the church ready to go to work. 25:19 Amen. 25:21 What have you seen has helped you 25:23 remain in the church? 25:24 You know, some people come in and they backslide 25:26 and they're right back up. 25:27 What has helped to keep you in the church? 25:29 Working with others. 25:30 When you engage in the salvation of others, 25:35 you fade out of the focus and they become the focus 25:39 and when you are working with Christ, 25:41 when you are yoked with Him, it just keeps you focused. 25:45 This is the mission, 25:47 this is the burning desire on your heart 25:49 and it really keeps you motivated 25:51 and moving in a forward and upward direction. 25:54 And I noticed being active in the church, 25:56 it helped keep me rooted and grounded 25:59 and as I continued to study the word 26:02 and continue to do literature evangelism, 26:04 and knocking on doors, getting to know people, 26:06 praying with people, being active in the church, 26:08 it has really kept me planted in the church 26:11 so, you know, I would basically encourage, 26:13 and I'm sure that you would encourage 26:15 folk that are coming into the church 26:17 to make sure that they get involved in something, 26:19 some kind of ministry in the church, 26:22 their own ministry, 26:23 whatever they have to do to stay active 26:26 to keep from going back into their lifestyle. 26:28 Amen. 26:29 Now what I want you to do, Pastor Wade, 26:30 is take about a minute or so. 26:32 I want you to look into the camera, 26:33 and I want you to appeal to that young person, 26:35 to those parents who are seeing their children 26:38 go out into the world. 26:40 What words do you have for them? 26:42 I just encourage you to remember 26:44 what the Bible promises. 26:46 The Bible gives us distinct promises. 26:49 God is greater, he that is in you 26:51 is greater than he that is in the world. 26:53 And if you'll just embrace these promises and go forward, 26:57 even if you have addictions, God can break those addictions 27:01 but you have to be willing to let him come in. 27:04 He will begin a work and He will finish a work. 27:08 All you have to do is be submissive 27:10 and allow Him to do that. 27:12 So I just encourage everyone to actually do that, seek God, 27:16 seek a relationship with Him, 27:18 build on it on a daily basis, and as you do that, 27:22 it will eventually turn into a relationship 27:25 that will be eternal. 27:26 Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. 27:27 Great advice. 27:30 Pastor Wade, I would like to thank you 27:31 for being on the program. 27:32 I know that many souls will be blessed 27:34 mothers, fathers, children, we just pray for all those 27:39 that want to come back into the church, 27:41 and even stay in the church. 27:42 Amen. 27:43 We like to thank you viewers 27:45 for tuning into The New Journey. 27:46 Be sure to tune in next time for an exciting story 27:50 on The New Journey. |
Revised 2017-06-29