Participants: Aaron Chancy (Host), Rocky Mertens
Series Code: TNJ
Program Code: TNJ000056
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00:01 The following program discusses sensitive issues.
00:03 Parents are cautioned that some material 00:04 may be too candid for younger children. 00:10 Welcome to The New Journey, 00:11 a program where you meet real life people 00:13 with real life testimonies 00:15 doing real life ministry for Jesus Christ. 00:17 I'm your host Aaron Chancy, 00:19 come join us on The New Journey. 00:52 I like to welcome you back to The New Journey. 00:54 On today's broadcast, we have Rocky Mertens. 00:57 Rocky, we like to thank you for being on the program. 00:59 Thank you, it's a blessing being here. 01:01 Just a general information, Rocky, 01:04 can you give us your age, and where you're from? 01:06 I'm 36 years old, 01:08 and I'm from West County, Alabama. 01:10 Okay. 01:12 What was it like growing up in your home at young age? 01:15 It was pretty rough. Okay. 01:17 I had-- 01:19 by the time I was in, I mean, Junior High 01:21 I had five different step-dad's 01:23 and a couple of them were very abusive. 01:27 Me and my older brother, we took a lot of hard, 01:31 knockdown, I guess you could say. 01:33 Okay. 01:34 There was a time when I was 12 years old, 01:36 sitting at the bar with my-- one of my step-dad's, 01:40 eating breakfast and just being quite 01:42 like I usually am and sometimes 01:44 I have an intimidating look on my face. 01:46 Some people say I look like I got a problem or something. 01:49 And apparently that's how he took it, 01:51 and he just slapped me down, off the bar on the floor 01:53 and jumped on top of me and fisting to start-- 01:55 he had his fist drew back on me. 01:57 And my older brother, 01:59 he's almost five years older than me. 02:00 He just so happened, well, 02:01 it wouldn't just so happened, I believe God-- 02:03 Intervened. Intervened. 02:05 And my brother came in and just and freaked out 02:08 and grabbed him and put him in a chock hold 02:10 and he said, I kind of blacked out, 02:12 I don't remember nothing 02:13 but he says while he was choking him out 02:15 I started hitting him. 02:16 But after that he got up, he woke up, he got up and left, 02:20 and we never had any more problems 02:22 out of him after that. 02:24 It's like a reality check. 02:27 Now you mentioned that you had five different step-dad's. 02:30 What was it like seeing a different-- 02:32 a different father figure in the house, 02:35 periodically having five different step-dad's? 02:39 It was kind of shocking as a young child 02:44 because the first one I had, 02:46 my mom and my dad split when I was two 02:49 and my dad worked at this chartered plane. 02:51 Mobile home plane that had uniforms they wore, 02:53 and one day this other man stepped up to the door 02:57 in a uniform like my dad's but he wasn't my dad, 02:59 and he came in and kissed my mom, 03:01 and just took up the role of-- 03:04 And it was really-- A real shock. 03:06 Real shock. Yeah. Definitely. 03:08 Wow. 03:09 So growing up in your household, 03:11 five different step-dads, what was the-- 03:13 what was the religious background in the house 03:15 or was there any religious background? 03:16 No, there was no. 03:18 Alcohol. Okay. 03:20 So it was a lot of alcohol drinking 03:22 and different things like that going in the house. 03:24 What were some of the negative influences 03:26 surrounding you in your house, outside your house, 03:29 different things like that? 03:30 Oh, it was basically the step-dads. 03:33 I had another step-dad that he was so rough on us, 03:38 he took my brother one time up by the throat 03:41 and stuck him in a burning barrel 03:43 while it was burning. 03:44 And I'm just, you know, I'm like eight years old 03:46 and I'm just standing there just amazed, 03:49 didn't know what to do, freaked out, you know. 03:53 We had some pretty, had some crucial 03:57 or should I say, painful punishments. 03:59 I remember standing in the gravel 04:01 on my knees when I was a kid, 04:02 holding books out like this for something. 04:05 I don't remember what it was, the littlest things. 04:08 If we didn't say yes ma'am or yes sir 04:09 we were in bad trouble. 04:11 And he stood behind me with a belt, you know, 04:14 like it was a whip or something, 04:15 just beating me, let him booze down. 04:17 So that kind of gave up, 04:19 gave a lot of resentment within you 04:21 for each of the different step-dads, correct? 04:24 Well, I can't really pinpoint what it done 04:26 but I've taken some classes 04:28 and what psychologists teaching it, 04:31 they say that it definitely has effect 04:33 on your mind growing up. 04:37 And it has effect on 04:39 your attitude and your character, 04:40 when you get older the things you do. 04:42 Yeah, yeah, the different things shape your life, 04:44 shape what you do later on in life, definitely. 04:47 Now looking back at the negative influences, 04:50 flip the script, what were some of the positive influences 04:53 in your life, if there were any? 04:55 My older brother. Okay. 04:57 And my grandma. 05:00 My grandma took me to charge a lot. 05:01 She was-- 05:02 she was probably one of the most mighty man 05:06 or women of God I've ever seen in my life. 05:08 Okay. 05:09 You know, she prayed at 9:00, 12:00 and 3:00 every day, 05:12 no matter what she was doing. 05:14 Three times a day. No matter what. 05:15 She was dedicated to it. Okay. 05:18 And my brother, he was there form, 05:20 my older brother, I got three brothers, 05:22 but my older brother, 05:23 he's my only full-blooded brother 05:24 and he's been there my whole life. 05:26 And he was always a role model because, I mean, 05:29 he taught me how to fight, he taught me, you know, 05:33 how to, just taught me about life like sports 05:36 and taught me about things 05:39 that young teenagers need to know growing up. 05:41 Yeah. Definitely, definitely. 05:43 So your brother was kind of like a father figure to you, 05:45 a positive father figure to you. 05:47 Now you mentioned that one of your family members 05:50 used to take you to church. 05:52 What was the type of church 05:53 that your grandmother used to take you to? 05:55 Pentecostal. 05:56 A Pentecostal church? Okay. 05:58 How was it growing up going to a Pentecostal church? 06:01 It was kind of breathtaking, I guess, 06:04 everybody jump around, speak in tongues, 06:06 and getting so excited. 06:08 Okay, okay. 06:10 Seem like they really, they seem like 06:12 they really has something going on in there. 06:13 Yeah, okay. 06:15 Now you mentioned that there was a lot of alcohol, 06:18 alcoholism going on in the household when, 06:20 at a younger age. 06:21 At what age did you begin 06:23 to use narcotics, drinking drugs, 06:25 different things of that nature? 06:26 Twelve years old. 06:28 Okay, at 12 years old. 06:29 And what did you what did you begin with at 12 years old? 06:31 And talk about the feeling of that you got from it 06:35 and why did you, why did you begin doing it? 06:37 Was it influences around you, 06:39 was it just because it was there? 06:41 Shed some light upon that. 06:42 Yeah, I started smoking weed and drinking alcohol at 12. 06:46 That was the easy things to get to 06:48 because, I mean, weeds pretty common. 06:50 A lot of people smoke the joint thing, 06:52 we don't do anything like it but started out, 06:54 getting out of my buddy's parents rooms, 06:58 the stuff I get when they go on to work. 07:00 And it just seemed like, I guess, 07:04 one thing that I always tried to blame it on was 07:07 because my dad always smoked pot 07:10 and had long hair and I just think, 07:12 I just thought that was cool. 07:14 And, but really what drove me to getting high was 07:17 having the ability to control my emotions 07:19 on my own, 07:21 kind of made me feel like I had more than an extra, 07:24 you know, more than a human power about me, 07:27 something super human or something like that, 07:28 I guess, I don't know. 07:30 Okay. 07:31 Other than the marijuana, 07:32 what were some of the other drugs 07:34 you eventually got involved with? 07:36 Later on I started using meth real heavy. 07:39 Okay. 07:40 Now talk a little bit about meth. 07:42 I've never used meth before, my drugs of choice were 07:45 like cocaine, alcohol, use a little heroin, 07:48 marijuana, ecstasy, prescription pills, 07:51 used to smoke a pack a day but I'd never done meth before. 07:56 Talk about that, the feeling of meth, 07:58 and you know, what's the difference 07:59 that you noticed between that and say, marijuana? 08:03 Meth gives you, it sharpens your mind, 08:06 keeps you from getting fatigue. 08:08 Okay. 08:09 You can go for days and you just, 08:11 you can think so much clearer, 08:14 you can figure stuff out that you don't, 08:16 you've never even deal with before. 08:19 Working on stuff is amazing to the point 08:22 that you actually find stuff to work on just to 08:25 because it let you amaze yourself 08:27 and how your mind will figure the stuff out. 08:30 All right, so you've giving 08:31 some of the positive effects of the drug, 08:32 what are some of the negative effects of the drug? 08:36 Negative is you spend all your money on it, 08:39 you'll lose you know, your financial lifestyle 08:42 will go down the drain, lose everything you have 08:45 and you eventually lose you family. 08:48 And I was so hooked on it that's when I started cocaine 08:51 because I didn't have the finances to buy it, 08:55 so I could buy the materials, 08:57 it's a lot cheaper to make all I wanted. 08:59 Okay. 09:00 And then it get, it gets even worse though that. 09:04 I eventually went to using so heavy 09:07 that I started overdosed on it one time 09:11 when I was mixing it with other stuff. 09:13 Because, I got heavy and using, doing ecstasy and pill, 09:18 I would have to take downers 09:19 like Valium and Xanax, and Klonopin 09:21 just to calm down and go to sleep, 09:23 slow my heart rate down. 09:25 And it was pretty bad. 09:27 I was even shooting it up and I was so ashamed of it, 09:31 I would do it little high 09:32 where I can put a shirt and cover them. 09:34 You know, my family's ever, you know, 09:36 my family don't do stuff like that. 09:38 They're all pretty respectable people. 09:40 Okay. 09:41 So it will drive you to the point 09:43 where you do something 09:45 that you're not even comfortable doing 09:47 but you do it anyway. 09:49 But, yeah, I overdosed three times. 09:52 Talk a little bit about those experiences with overdosing. 09:56 It was horrible. 09:57 One time I fought 09:58 the whole Hammond Louisiana Police Department, 10:00 didn't even, don't even really remember it. 10:03 And I woke up the next morning in the hospital, 10:05 looking up at the lights and didn't know where I was at, 10:08 and they were running a catheter rope in me. 10:10 And that was a scary bad feeling 10:13 because there was a sheet up, 10:15 I didn't know what was going on, I just, 10:17 just scared the life out of me, what life I had left in me. 10:21 They told me I was very fortunate to make it, 10:25 so that I would probably suffer long term effects, 10:28 damage from it. 10:29 Yeah, definitely. 10:31 You know it's interesting often that drugs are glorified, 10:35 you know, so often people talk so highly of them. 10:37 But that downside, that negative side, 10:40 a lot of people don't say that. 10:42 Yeah, they say, well, you know, this is good, 10:44 it gave me that super high, 10:45 it gave me this, it gave me that. 10:46 But in the flip side, just like with alcohol, 10:48 you know, yeah, you drink, you have fun, you got it, 10:50 and it almost seems like it makes everything more fun. 10:54 But then what if you drink too much, 10:55 you get a hangover, you know. 10:56 And its sometimes it's kind of like we laugh 10:58 and we joke about a hangover and different things like that. 11:00 But at the same time 11:02 when you have fun with some of these drugs, 11:04 the negative side is like you stated, 11:06 loss of money, loss of family. 11:08 And it's interesting that you-- 11:10 in a lot of hip-hop records and things 11:12 where the drugs and things like that are glorified. 11:15 You know here, the real about you know, yeah, 11:17 I've spent all my money on my drugs 11:19 now I'm broke, you know, now I don't have anything. 11:21 I smoke so much that 11:23 now I don't even have a family, you know. 11:25 And that's the reality where it seems like it's fun 11:28 but the reality is you're losing family, 11:31 you're losing friends, real friends at that. 11:34 And so it's a lot of negative side 11:36 that needs to be talked on as well. 11:39 Now after that you eventually went to prison 11:42 for a couple of years. 11:43 Talk about the prison life, what it was like, 11:47 as well as what your charge was that sent you to prison. 11:50 Prison life is no joke. 11:53 Definitely. 11:54 You know I've seen a lot of people getting killed, 11:58 raped over stupid stuffs. 12:00 I was in there have five weeks and seen two guys get into it, 12:03 one hold the other guy for two egg sandwiches 12:06 out of the chow hall. 12:07 And they were both about to get out 12:09 but I guess they had been institutionalized 12:12 and been in there so long and had to learn lifestyle 12:15 of killed be kill, you know, protect yourself, 12:18 you know, get your own. 12:20 And the one guy just told him, 12:22 I ain't going to fight you, man, I am okay. 12:24 And the other guy closed him in the room 12:27 and that's exactly what he got. 12:29 And they had knives in there, 12:30 and they were like Rambo knives. 12:32 You know, they call them bone crusher. 12:34 When it hit you, it's going through bone 12:36 and always come out of back side 12:38 and it was brutal and so horrible site 12:41 to watch somebody be stabbed 12:42 and watch them terribly bleed to death. 12:45 Reaching for like, he was reaching for air, I guess, 12:50 trying to reaching for a life, trying to hold on. 12:53 Yeah. Wow. Wow. 12:55 After seeing those things, how did that make you feel, 12:57 seeing the rapes in prison, seeing the murders in prison? 13:01 How did that make you feel? 13:02 And matter of fact, also with that, 13:04 how long were you in prison 13:06 as well as what was the charge that sends you to prison? 13:09 I was only, I was in prison for two years 13:11 which was long time for me 13:13 but for a lot of guys it's been 20, 30 years, 13:15 that's nothing but it was log enough 13:18 to see the flip side of it, 13:20 you know, see a lot of bad stuff. 13:23 Definitely. 13:28 How long, how long, 13:29 what did you end up going to prison for? 13:32 I went for meth. For meth? Okay. 13:34 So that even adds more to the negative side of it 13:36 where you know, when we talked about the joys of it, 13:40 but then this is the thing that led you to prison. 13:42 It was the drugs that led you to prison, 13:44 which is another thing that is horrible negative 13:47 because, sometimes also prison life is glorified. 13:50 We see it on TV, we see it in movies, we see it-- 13:52 I remember, certain hip-hop songs 13:54 that specifically glorified it, you know, 13:56 pretty much like you go in, you see all your friends, 13:58 you having fun then you get out, 13:59 you come out a real man 14:01 because this didn't happen or that didn't happen. 14:02 But the reality is of prison life 14:04 is just like what you just said it. 14:06 Some people get killed in there, 14:07 some people get raped in there, some people don't make it out. 14:10 I remember myself when I was in there, 14:12 like, you stated that two years was enough for you. 14:14 And which same for me, it was enough for me. 14:17 And I would have people that have been there 14:18 10, 20, 30 years say, 14:20 two years, that ain't nothing, you know like-- 14:23 Number one, I'm not built for cage. 14:26 I'm not an animal 14:27 where I feel like I should be in a cage. 14:30 And for me to be there for 10, 30, 40 years, 14:33 it doesn't take me long to realize 14:35 that I don't want to be here, you know. 14:36 So I don't need to go through, 14:38 I don't need to be there 40 years to realize that. 14:40 And a lot of people will say, well, what is two years? 14:42 You know, two years is nothing. 14:43 So you went, 14:45 how many different prisons where you transfer to 14:46 and what were some of the different prisons 14:48 that you were at? 14:49 I went to five different, I went from Kilby to Bill, 14:53 they called it Bloody Bill which was the worst part, 14:55 the deadliest one I was at. 14:57 Okay, now, you say a Bloody Bill, 14:58 I got to stop it right there. 15:00 Why did they call it Bloody Bill? 15:02 Well, I think this pretty self-explanatory. 15:05 Blood shed every day there. 15:07 Well, so going through all of that, 15:09 how did you manage to make it out of there alive? 15:12 By the grace of God. Amen, amen. 15:15 When I first got there, there were many knives, 15:17 and I just stuck my head undercover and prayed. 15:20 And that's how I finally fell a sleep 15:22 just talking to God, "Please, God help me get-- 15:25 if I make it out this cell I'll never do this again." 15:27 Definitely. 15:28 Think we've all said that prayer once in our life. 15:31 Most of us has said it a lot of time. 15:33 Now you eventually came to a point 15:36 where you realized you know, 15:38 it's time to make a change in your life. 15:39 What was it that brought you to that point 15:41 after years of drinking, after years of drug, 15:44 using meth, using ecstasy, all these various things, 15:47 since you were young, 15:49 since you were even before teenager? 15:50 What was it that brought you to that breaking point, 15:53 that rock bottom or whatever it was 15:55 that made you decide 15:56 I need to start making a change, 15:58 start taking steps towards Jesus? 16:00 Its the prison, been taken away from my family, my kids, 16:06 because before I went to prison my kids, 16:08 me and my baby's mother, we split up. 16:11 She lost a case to DHR for drugs 16:14 and I had a chance to get on 16:16 but I was so strong out on drugs 16:17 I couldn't straighten up. 16:19 Okay. 16:20 When I went to prison and got, and cleaned up just reality set 16:24 and I realized that, I realize what a wreck I was, 16:27 and that's when I gave myself to God. 16:30 I just decided it if I keep doing the same thing 16:33 I'm going to keep getting same results. 16:35 Yeah, definitely, definitely. 16:37 So I decided it was time for a change, 16:38 a real life change. 16:41 Now you eventually learned 16:43 about the Seventh-day Adventist Church, 16:44 well, you learned about the Sabbath first. 16:47 And coming from a Pentecostal background, 16:49 how did you learn about the Sabbath? 16:51 What began that search for the truth 16:54 in the Word of God for you? 16:56 Different denominations coming into the prisons 16:59 because I was dedicated to the church 17:00 every time doors open, I was in a-- 17:03 So you were sincere about want to make a change? 17:04 Yeah. Definitely. 17:06 I read my Bible 17:08 for the first year I was in prison. 17:11 The whole time I was awake, 17:13 I was reading my Bible on my bed. 17:16 You know, we didn't have to, it was a no-working camp. 17:20 It was mostly, it was a camp for people who were-- 17:23 who came from Max camps and didn't want to do anything 17:27 or just serve, had life sentences, 17:29 not getting out. 17:30 Okay, yeah they don't want to work, 17:32 don't want to do-- 17:33 and you really can't make person a life, 17:34 you really can't make him even do anything. 17:36 They know they're going to be here all the time, 17:37 there's no hope of getting out. 17:39 Can't do nothing with them. Yeah, definitely. 17:40 And so it was a holding tank for the worst of the worst, 17:43 level four camps. 17:45 And that's why they got, got it's name Bloody Bill. 17:48 Okay. Now for those that don't-- 17:49 I understand the different levels of prison. 17:51 When you stated a level four, I understand what a level four, 17:54 because you have level four, level five, level one, 17:55 level two, level three, you have max, super max. 17:58 But talk about the difference 18:00 between the different levels of prisons 18:01 for the viewers out there that have never been to prison, 18:04 don't understand what that means, 18:06 talk about that a little bit. 18:07 Level four is confinement, you can get outside the fence. 18:14 Whereas one, two, and three you know, you can get out 18:18 and work in the community or work a job. 18:20 But level four, if you work you, they'll take you out, 18:24 you'll be on shackles and you'll be under a shotgun. 18:28 Well, I don't know, 18:29 I don't think they do the shackles anymore, 18:31 but you're going to be under shotgun. 18:33 You're not going to get far out of their site, 18:35 you're not going to be in public. 18:36 Yeah, okay. 18:38 But it's a, you know, Max Campus. 18:42 I've never been to Max camp but this, they, 18:45 I think they're locked down 24/7. 18:47 Okay. Okay. 18:49 Now you were at a level four. 18:53 What was it like at a level four 18:55 being that you came with a drug charge, 18:57 where I was at a level two facility. 18:59 I was there were people 15, 20 years, 19:01 they were people that have hopes to get out. 19:03 Level four, you were there were people that have life, 19:06 you're there with you know, a lot of violent offenders, 19:08 different things like that. 19:09 Had you ever been to a level one, 19:11 level two, level three 19:12 or were they all pretty much level fours? 19:14 First one I went to was level four. 19:16 Okay. 19:17 Now why did they end up, basically with a drug charge, 19:19 why did they send you straight to a level four 19:21 versus a level two? 19:23 Because I had a pending charge. 19:26 When I went to the County jail right off the bed, 19:28 I had a pending charge and I wanted to-- 19:31 I heard, like you said, people say prison, 19:33 they make prison ought to be, 19:35 is supposed to be better than the County, 19:37 you know, you can move, you can smoke. 19:39 So I booked in the County 19:41 and threaten to tear the new jail 19:43 apart in prison so they send me home. 19:46 And I got what I asked for. Yeah. 19:48 I wind up going to the worst level four prison in the State 19:52 and with a pending charge, 19:54 so I couldn't even go outside the fence to work. 19:56 Yeah, yeah. Wow. 19:57 Not even under a shotgun. 19:59 I was stuck. Wow. 20:00 So you eventually, you learned about the Sabbath. 20:02 How did you-- 20:04 how did you learn about the Sabbath 20:05 because you stated that you were going to-- 20:07 every time a little church doors would open, 20:09 you would go to the worships and stuff. 20:11 But how did you specifically learn about the Sabbath? 20:14 Well, that's a good story, I tell you. 20:17 I started, I noticed that different denominations 20:19 had different, little bit different beliefs, 20:21 they could take the same scripture 20:23 and makes something a different meaning out of it 20:26 than what the last guy did. 20:27 They both saying the same-- 20:28 and they both sounded, you know, truthful. 20:31 But they both had the truth, 20:32 so I started praying for God to show me the truth right then 20:36 because I say, God, you know, I'm serious about You, 20:40 serving You, and I want to know 20:42 the Bible says the truth will make you free 20:44 and that you have to have a love 20:46 for the truth and for Jesus Christ. 20:48 And so I wanted to know, so I guess, 20:51 because of my love for Jesus Christ, 20:53 it goes hand in hand. 20:54 And I had a lot to know what was real and truth, 20:57 who had truth. 20:58 And so after I started praying like it, 21:02 they moved me into a one year ministry program 21:04 in Bill where they put me 21:06 beside a guy named Chauncey Gibson, 21:09 who had been Adventist his whole life, you know. 21:13 He had been to college, two years learning Greek 21:17 and all that in college. 21:20 And he taught me a lot. 21:21 At first we bumped our heads because I never heard of 21:24 Seventh-day Adventists or Sabbath day, 21:27 didn't think that was necessary. 21:29 My grandma would've been there and I thought she was like 21:33 one of my positive role models growing up 21:35 and I knew she was sincere 21:37 as any Christian I've ever seen. 21:39 She had to have the truth, so you know, I thought-- 21:43 So you all kind of bump heads over whether or not 21:46 the Seventh-day Sabbath was the truth 21:47 or other truth that he was showing you, 21:50 whether those were truth or whether they were not? 21:52 Oh, yeah, we bumped to that and I thought I was going-- 21:56 you know, when he-- 21:57 we had debates about certain things, 21:59 I would kind of give of snickering you know, 22:03 lay off like, yeah, 22:04 you just think you got the truth, man. 22:06 Yeah, okay. 22:08 He went on to-- 22:09 he finally started convinced me, 22:11 I couldn't really-- 22:12 he had so much surety in the word 22:15 and you know, was so knowledgeable 22:17 and fluent with the word. 22:20 It wasn't a debate for real, 22:22 I eventually started just following his lead. 22:24 And I learned a lot from this guy 22:26 because I couldn't argue with word. 22:29 And I realized after you know, 22:32 probably a week studying with him, 22:34 I started realizing that this was my prayer answered. 22:37 I asked for God to show me the truth, and he put-- 22:39 Brought it to you. 22:41 Put an angel, I think, right in my path. 22:43 Amen, amen. 22:45 So eventually, you got sent to another prison 22:48 and you started to UPMI, 22:51 United Prison Ministries International 22:52 was coming to the prison. 22:54 Talk about that experience. Yeah. 22:55 Well, at Bill, we didn't have any Saturday, 22:58 any Sabbath services, 23:00 we had a lot of services through the week 23:01 and Sunday was big time service call, a church call, 23:05 Church of Highlands from Birmingham, Alabama 23:07 would come out. 23:09 And they were good, they had some really good services 23:11 but, you know, very entertaining, 23:13 beautiful music, we would-- 23:16 They came in and installed a big screen, 23:18 a projector system in our chapel and we used to-- 23:21 and it would feel that chapel-- 23:23 because they had some beautiful contemporary music. 23:26 And we would, 23:28 the whole congregation be singing to them. 23:30 We just have a good time. 23:31 But I started praying for some Sabbath services 23:35 because, you know, I was, 23:37 I wanted to honor the Sabbath day and keep it holy. 23:40 That's the day I started desiring to worship on. 23:44 Amen. 23:45 And I would pray, I prayed hard for God to bring it in there, 23:48 and but He answered my prayer but not the way I wanted to. 23:52 Sometimes you get things you get them 23:55 but not how you plan on that. 23:56 Yeah, definitely, definitely. 23:57 They wind up shipping me to another prison, Draper, 24:00 which was another rough thugy prison. 24:03 And but right off the bed I looked at the church services 24:07 and saying, and on Saturday 24:09 they had a group called UPMI coming in. 24:11 So you got the exact prayer you were praying for? 24:14 Yeah. Amen. 24:15 These guys were Seventh-day Adventist, 24:17 I knew when I see them come in, I'll sit in there waiting. 24:20 And I think you actually interviewed Steve Redford, 24:24 and-- 24:25 And Tony Hall. Tony Hall. 24:27 Yes, sir. Yeah. 24:28 And the first one I spoke to was Steve. 24:30 When I seen him coming and I could just tell, 24:32 they just had this different glow about them, smiling. 24:35 And, you know, I said, 24:36 "You must be Seventh-day Adventist?" 24:38 And he smiled real big, he said, "Yes, we are." 24:41 He said, But we don't like to use that Seventh word 24:43 because it pushes a lot of people, 24:45 you know, a lot of people don't think, 24:47 don't like to honor the seventh day, 24:49 that pushes them out the door. 24:51 So we call our self UPMI, 24:53 United Prison Ministries International. 24:55 Definitely. Okay. 24:57 That inspired me a lot, 24:58 they go to over 5,000 prisons across the world. 25:02 They even go to Russia and you know, play in countries 25:04 where we're not welcome at as Americans. 25:07 They have to be escorted to the, 25:09 and it takes someone who has a love for saving souls 25:12 to go somewhere like that. 25:14 Yeah, definitely, definitely. 25:16 But these guys inspired me, 25:17 and I was blessed to have seen Tony Hall 25:20 at the Oak Wood Church while back at the Cong-- 25:23 what do you-- At camp meeting. 25:24 At the camp meeting, yeah. Defiantly. 25:26 And that was a true blessing, prayer answered. 25:30 Now when you got out of prison, 25:32 where you were a little bit afraid 25:33 that you had experienced jailhouse religion 25:36 or were you pretty much sold on this, 25:38 this is what I'm doing no faking it, 25:40 this is what I'm going to do? 25:42 I knew I had the truth, I wasn't-- 25:45 I don't have any doubts about it 25:46 but a lot of people did because it happened so much. 25:49 Yeah. 25:51 There were sedative right of people 25:52 who come out of prison with religion 25:55 and just go right back to what they were doing, 25:57 it's a very high rate. 26:00 Most people don't, most people don't sustain, 26:02 they don't keep their faith. 26:04 Yeah, definitely. 26:05 And I believe that goes with the truth. 26:07 The truth will make you free, 26:09 the truth is what sanctifies you, 26:11 the Word of God. 26:13 Yeah, definitely. 26:14 Jesus emphasize how important sound doctrine is. 26:17 So if you believe in something that has one, you know, 26:21 is not true, it has a little bit of error in it, 26:23 it's like having-- 26:25 How did he say, "One batch of leave 26:30 will ruin the whole--" 26:31 Yeah, ruin the whole lawn, yeah. 26:34 And I believe, I believe that's what he was talking about. 26:38 And I knew I had the true and God had made me free 26:42 so a lot of people, even like, you know, 26:45 I'm being supervised on parole 26:47 and probation, CREO now, with specialist 26:49 and they keep monitor on me to make sure. 26:52 And my specialist, she's a Christian. 26:54 And I've been sharing my testimony with her. 26:57 You know, she asked the same thing, 26:59 she said, "I have to keep up with you 27:01 for at least six months 27:03 because the sedative right is six months." 27:05 Most people will go back to prison, 27:07 85 percent go back to the prison 27:09 for the same thing that they get out 27:11 for within six months. 27:13 She said, "I have to make sure 27:14 you don't have jailhouse religion 27:15 and that you're going to do right. 27:17 I have to keep eye on you for at least six months." 27:20 I supposed to be on it for a year, 27:22 but they don't let me go 27:23 as long as I make it past the six months 27:25 because they are so-- 27:30 what's the word I'm looking for, inspired by testimony-- 27:34 Yeah, by your story. 27:35 That they believe, they believe me 27:38 but they still have to do their job 27:39 and you know, keep monitoring on me, 27:41 and make sure that I don't go back to prison for my six-- 27:45 or have jailhouse religion. 27:46 Yeah, definitely, definitely. 27:48 Well, Rocky, we'd like to thank you, 27:49 for being on the program, 27:51 very great story, a very great testimony. 27:53 We just want to thank you so much for being on. 27:56 Viewers, tune in next time 27:57 for another exciting program of The New Journey. |
Revised 2016-06-02