Participants: Aaron Chancy (Host), Pr. Ricky Wade
Series Code: TNJ
Program Code: TNJ000069A
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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 Welcome to the New Journey 00:09 where you'll meet real life people 00:11 with real life testimonies 00:12 and real life working ministries for Jesus. 00:14 I'm your host Aaron Chancy. 00:15 Come join us on The New Journey. 00:47 Welcome to the New Journey. 00:48 We have with us today, Pastor Ricky Wade. 00:51 Pastor Ricky Wade has been on the program before 00:53 but we're bringing him back 00:55 because he's going to talk to us 00:56 about something very important in a Christian walk. 00:58 Part one, we're going to talk 00:59 about his recap of his testimony, 01:01 part two, we're going to talk about his transformation 01:03 and part three of this program 01:05 we're going to talk about getting involved. 01:07 So let's jump right in it. 01:08 Pastor Wade, we welcome you on to the program. 01:10 Thank you, it's a pleasure to be here. 01:12 All right, all right. So let's jump right into it. 01:14 Let's do a recap of your testimony. 01:16 Tell us what you used to get involved in? 01:18 How you changed your life, things like that? 01:21 Just prior to graduating from high school, 01:24 I had already made plans to join the military. 01:26 So I spent four years in the Navy 01:29 and when you're in the military a lot of times, 01:31 and I'm going back, this was back in 1987 to 1991. 01:38 A lot of our spare or free time was spent drinking. 01:42 Okay. 01:44 So a lot of alcohol involved on a consistent regular basis. 01:47 Well, if you continued to do behaviors over and over, 01:51 they will eventually turn into a habit. 01:53 So after just a four year stint in the military, 01:56 I had become accustomed to drinking alcohol 02:00 on regular basis. 02:01 Okay, okay. 02:02 Whenever I got out went to college began... 02:06 Well, dove back into a life of smoking pot 02:09 and we had tried other drugs as well, 02:11 but I didn't use them on a regular 02:13 and frequent basis. 02:16 Crystal meth was something that really kind of 02:18 caught on the West Coast 02:20 and then it trickled to some of the small towns 02:23 all the way over here on the East Coast. 02:25 Okay. 02:26 I tried crystal, 02:27 I didn't particularly cared for it. 02:29 Had hallucinated a couple of times on LSD. 02:34 Never did try coke, so that's basically 02:37 what I had been involved in. 02:39 But marijuana was just the drug of choice, that and alcohol. 02:42 Okay. 02:44 So, before long though if you continue to mess 02:48 with the devil, he'll begin to mess with you too. 02:50 That's true, that's true. 02:52 So what did all of this lead to? 02:54 And also for those who may not have seen the program 02:57 you were on before, tell us where you're from as well? 03:00 I'm from Portland, Tennessee. Okay. 03:02 Which is where Kentucky, Tennessee 03:04 has their camp meeting, 03:06 a little place called Highland Academy 03:08 is where they have their campground. 03:11 So I grew up in that area. 03:13 Me and my wife Christy, we both, our whole lives 03:16 we lived basically in Portland. 03:18 Okay. 03:20 So did you grow up 03:21 in the Seventh-day Adventist Church? 03:23 I did. Okay. 03:24 But by the time I was 15, 16 years old, 03:27 there had been some changes. 03:29 I wasn't going to the private Adventist school anymore. 03:33 I had transferred over to public school 03:35 and this is really a good, a good reason 03:38 to plug Adventist education. 03:41 We need to stay within 03:44 our Adventist educational system 03:46 because there's a lot of benefits, 03:47 you know, you don't realize that you're doing 03:49 some of the compromises that you might be doing 03:52 until you're already in it and then you're used to it, 03:55 you're accustomed to it, it's a habit 03:56 and you don't even think twice about it. 03:58 Yeah, that's true. 03:59 So, I'm very much in support of Adventist education, 04:04 but I also think that which is a different story, 04:07 I think that we should include others. 04:08 I think that it should be more of a ministry tool 04:10 instead of kind of an inclusive tool 04:12 just for Adventist kids. 04:14 Okay. 04:16 So you were involved with the drug, the LSD, 04:18 the marijuana things like that and eventually you ended up 04:21 catching a charge. 04:23 Talk to us about the charge? 04:26 I arranged for some friends to break into my house 04:32 while we were going on vacation. 04:33 Hold on, hold on. 04:34 You said you arranged for some friends 04:36 to break into your house. 04:37 Tell us why you arranged that? 04:39 The whole intent was just to collect an insurance, 04:41 you know, turn in a claim and then just collect bucks 04:44 and just a few things be missing in all actuality 04:47 but, you know, you claim everything 04:50 that you can think of. 04:51 Okay. 04:54 The young guy that I had asked to do this, 04:57 he got caught. 04:58 He pinched me. 05:01 So he wore a mic, he recorded some of our conversations 05:05 after the fact and... 05:09 Okay. 05:10 As a result I caught a class C felony. 05:12 And the big thing about felonies though is that 05:15 should you ever end up in that situation, 05:18 pray that you don't. 05:20 Pray that you follow the path of righteous. 05:22 But if you stray and you end up in that situation, 05:24 make sure that you're going to get everything 05:26 on the front end because expungement 05:28 really does not happen 05:30 if you try to get it on the tail end. 05:31 Okay, okay. 05:33 Now you said you got a class C felony. 05:34 Can you explain what a class C felony is 05:36 and what was the results of that class C felony? 05:40 A, B, C, D, and E felonies are the range of them. 05:44 You can get a class E felony in some states for, 05:48 on a motorcycle for popping a wheely in traffic. 05:50 Okay. 05:52 So a class A felony is premeditated murder. 05:56 So class C is just kind of middle range 05:58 and the reason that I got a middle felony 06:02 is because of the amount of money 06:04 based on what I was claiming was stolen. 06:07 Based on that amount that's how you get tagged 06:10 with one or the other. 06:11 Okay, so out of that, did you come out 06:13 with probation, parole, did you have to do any time, 06:15 how did that work out? 06:17 I came out with probation. 06:18 Parole is if you've already gone in 06:20 and you're actually serving time 06:21 in the penitentiary and then you come out, 06:23 that's parole. 06:25 So I just got probation. 06:26 I got a million hours of community service 06:29 where they want you to go do silly things, 06:32 just character building things. 06:34 Okay, okay. 06:36 Now you eventually got part of your record taken care of. 06:39 Talk about that? Sure. 06:42 In 2014, I was able to file a petition to the court 06:46 and I got my rights reinstated. 06:48 So if you catch a felony charge, 06:50 you no longer have the rights of a normal American citizen. 06:54 You can't work at any government job, 06:56 you can't hold public office, you can't vote, 07:00 you can't be caught with guns or weapons. 07:04 So when I got those reinstated, I got all of my rights. 07:07 So this is the first time that I've been able to vote 07:10 since Ross Perot ran. 07:11 Oh, wow. Okay. 07:12 So what's the difference between 07:14 getting your rights reinstated versus getting them expunged? 07:17 Expunged is there's absolutely no record. 07:20 I still have a record, so when I went to get 07:25 my voter registration card this time, 07:29 I had to present some of the court papers 07:31 to let them know that my rights were reinstated 07:34 and I did have the right to vote again. 07:36 Okay. 07:37 Now, through the drugs, through the class E felony 07:41 that you received, the class C felony, 07:42 I'm sorry, that you received, 07:44 what was the point in your life that made you decide, 07:47 you know what, I need to make a change. 07:52 I had already made the changes is the unfortunate thing, 07:54 but I was straddled the fence. 07:56 I was kind of a lukewarm Christian, 07:58 there's no kind of to it, I was a lukewarm Christian. 08:01 To the surface appearance, to everyone that saw me 08:05 I was this Christian that looked like 08:08 I was full of zeal, you know, I was a true Pharisee. 08:12 I was thumping the law and was trying 08:15 to correct everybody else 08:16 while outside of the public picture 08:20 I was still doing what I wanted to do. 08:21 Okay, okay. 08:23 Now, you eventually changed your life, you're pastoring 08:25 in the Seventh-day Adventist church, 08:27 you have a three church district. 08:28 Let's transition over to the transformation process. 08:31 Talk about that? 08:33 Transformation is where you take it to the next level. 08:37 Okay. 08:39 When you're baptized, you're supposed to come up 08:40 out of the water a new man or a new woman, right? 08:42 Yeah, correct. 08:43 And so this new man and this new woman 08:46 has allowed Christ to come into their heart. 08:47 Okay. 08:49 You're now connected to the vine. 08:50 But the death of the old man means that I'm... 08:55 If I have temptations, I'm not going to chase them 08:59 because I have faith and a new power in my life. 09:02 I'm no longer controlled by the devil. 09:04 So even if I stumble and fall and I sin, 09:08 I'm going to ask God first to forgive me 09:10 but then to give me the power to overcome it from then on. 09:13 Okay, okay. 09:15 Now do you think with the transformation process, 09:17 do you think a lot of people in their Christian walk 09:19 struggle with really understanding it? 09:21 I do. 09:22 And I think that just based on maybe people's prayer life, 09:26 you can see this. 09:27 When we pray, the Bible says that if I believe it 09:32 and it's according to God's will, 09:34 so anything that would bring Him glory 09:37 that He's going to answer. 09:38 Okay. 09:39 But we don't see a lot of people laying hands 09:42 on someone that sick and they become well, 09:46 we don't see those types of miracles. 09:48 We occasionally hear stories of people speaking in tongues 09:52 where they overcome a language barrier, 09:54 but for the most part we don't see 09:56 tons of answered prayer. 09:58 And I think that if our faith, our confidence in God's Word, 10:03 if our faith was stronger, then I think 10:07 that we would see a lot more change. 10:10 Okay, okay. 10:12 You know, you and I can both fake love, 10:15 peace and kindness and long suffering, 10:19 but do we do these things because we love Jesus 10:22 or are we doing them because somewhere it's bringing 10:25 self gratification to me? 10:26 Yeah, that's true, that's true. 10:28 Now talk about the transformation process 10:29 in your own life and how it can relate 10:31 to another person's life who has been involved 10:34 in a life of crime, a life of drugs and things, 10:37 and now wants to make that change, 10:39 "Look, I'm fed up with it. 10:40 I'm tired of chasing these drugs, 10:43 I'm tired of chasing fast money, 10:44 I'm tired of chasing women, 10:45 I'm tired of being incarcerated." 10:47 Talk about the transformation process 10:49 for that individual going from that lifestyle 10:52 now into the church? 10:53 Yeah, I believe that for someone 10:55 that has been involved in that whole cycle of life 10:58 that you first need to find a church 11:00 that wants to invest in you. 11:02 Many churches have jail and prison ministries 11:05 and they love felons as long as they're locked up. 11:10 But you need a church that is going to invest in you 11:13 when you get out because if not it's very likely 11:17 that you'll go back into that same group 11:19 and some of your old habits will resurface, 11:22 you'll just embrace them, 11:23 that's just comes natural to you. 11:26 So, you know, you want to find a church 11:28 that has a faithful group that studies 11:31 that can offer you activities that would help you transition 11:36 into a new way of life. 11:38 So come Friday night, well, that's a big active night 11:42 for people that aren't Christians. 11:44 Yeah, in the club scene, things like that. 11:45 So we need to find a group that we can do something 11:48 with on Friday night and church needs to be 11:51 meaningful whenever I get there. 11:53 Yeah. 11:54 I don't want to go to sleep, I can sleep at home in my bed. 11:58 So church needs to be meaningful, 11:59 it needs to have fellowship, it needs to have warmth, 12:03 and sometimes we don't have that. 12:04 I think that it's easy enough to transition a church 12:08 into that but... 12:09 Okay, okay. 12:11 My biggest thing was just giving my life over to Christ. 12:15 "Christ, whatever you say I'm going to do." 12:18 Okay. 12:20 Now let me ask you something with that 12:21 because I have a lot of parents who come to me and say, 12:24 "You know what, can you talk to my son, 12:25 can you talk to my daughter? 12:27 He, she was involved in things that you're involved, 12:29 that you used to be involved in." 12:31 And what parents it seems want to know sometimes 12:34 is what made you want to change, 12:37 I'm speaking of myself and what do I think 12:39 can help that child to want to make a change. 12:42 So do you think that a person has to hit rock bottom 12:45 or what do you think that person has to come 12:48 to the point of to say, "You know what? 12:50 It's time that I make a change in my life. 12:52 I need to make that transition from the streets, 12:55 from this type of lifestyle 12:56 over to this type of lifestyle now." 12:58 Yeah, and I believe that a parent can want it 13:02 for their child for all day long 13:04 but until that individual wants it. 13:07 There's not going to be a lot of change. 13:08 I may change in your presence again 13:12 but I'll be straddled the fence 13:13 and I'll have my one foot much deeper in that lifestyle 13:18 than what I may even want you to know, you know, 13:21 at some point you may get to the... 13:23 You may get to an area in your life 13:25 where you don't care whether people know 13:26 that this is, this is just me, accept it. 13:28 Exactly. 13:30 But when somebody begins to want it, 13:31 that's when you need some of these backup support groups, 13:34 they need to come in. 13:35 And I had one individual start sharing 13:38 some information with me, shared an amazing facts tract 13:40 and then I began doing Bible studies on Friday night. 13:44 I had two or three people, they would come to my house. 13:47 And so three people were studying 13:49 just with one individual, 13:50 but that's the kind of investment 13:52 that we need church members to do. 13:55 It's not the pastor's job. 13:56 The pastor's job is to train you how to do it. 13:58 But then, you know, we need our members to get involved 14:02 and that's easy enough, you can find people. 14:03 And we're going to talk about getting involved in a second. 14:06 And you know, one of the things that you said 14:08 that was interesting just now is that the individual 14:10 has to want to do it for themselves, 14:12 they have to want to make the change for themselves 14:14 because looking at my own life, you know, I didn't want it, 14:18 I didn't want to change enough for myself. 14:19 Yeah, a lot of people wanted me to change but I didn't want to. 14:22 I still love the fast money, I love the drugs, 14:24 I just love the... 14:26 I don't know why you love it because it's a lot of misery 14:27 most of the time, I spent a lot of time incarcerated 14:30 but I love it and it wasn't until for me 14:33 I hit rock bottom at 25 years old 14:35 where I said, "You know what? 14:37 It's time to make a change. 14:38 I'm fed up with this and I'm ready to... 14:40 I'm ready to get out of this circle of foolishness." 14:42 So I agree with that. 14:44 And now what I want to talk about, 14:45 okay, so the person has been out there, 14:47 they've made that transfer into the church, 14:49 the transformation process and now we want to talk 14:52 about getting involved. 14:53 How do we get a person involved 14:56 and why should they get involved? 14:57 Sure. 14:58 And I think the easiest way to get individuals 15:01 in a church involved is simply to find something 15:03 that they like to do. 15:05 Okay. 15:06 I love to give Bible studies, 15:08 I had gone to Arise and David Asscherick 15:11 and his team had showed me how to do Bible studies. 15:14 Okay. So I love to do that. 15:16 And a friend was like, "Would you like to get involved 15:19 in jail and prison ministry?" 15:21 And I really thought, "No, that's not for me, 15:24 you know, I may have the felony but I'm just a cut above that." 15:29 Yeah. Wow. 15:30 And through jail and prison ministry, 15:33 I came to a realization 15:35 of what transformation needed to be. 15:37 Okay. 15:38 It can't be something that I'm just involved 15:40 in during church. 15:41 It needs to be my way of life every day 15:45 for the rest of my life. 15:46 Yeah, definitely, definitely. 15:48 So I got involved in jail and prison ministries 15:50 and then baptism just started to flow. 15:52 So I suggest whatever it is that you like, 15:55 you can find other people that aren't 15:58 Seventh-day Adventists, maybe aren't even Christians 16:00 and get to know them. 16:02 You don't have to show them doctrinal stuff 16:04 to get to know somebody. 16:05 They don't even have to know that you're an Adventist, 16:08 but just let them know that there's something in you 16:11 that makes you different than the rest of the world. 16:13 Yeah, definitely. Now let me ask you this. 16:15 You know, people come into the church all the time, 16:17 they were out there, they change their life, 16:19 they come in. 16:21 They're on fire and then next thing you know 16:23 in a couple of weeks they fizzle out 16:25 and they're right back out the door. 16:26 In your opinion why do you think 16:28 that this may be happening so much? 16:31 I think that possibly it's because your churches 16:33 aren't warm enough to keep them there. 16:35 Churches, it doesn't matter whether they're, 16:39 what race they are, it doesn't matter 16:41 what size they are. 16:42 You can have a church of 10 people 16:44 and there can oftentimes be just a click, you know, 16:47 this is our little church family 16:49 and we'd like you to come 16:50 but we don't know how to fit you in. 16:52 So, and you don't have to rush to get somebody involved. 16:56 Yeah. 16:58 They'll be sharing their testimony 17:00 and their witness, and so you begin 17:03 to help them expand their witness 17:06 and as their testimony grows, 17:08 then hopefully it will encourage the church 17:11 to become a little bit more active 17:13 and then everyone gets blessed. 17:15 Okay, praise the Lord. 17:16 From your personal experience how much of an impact 17:19 do you think getting involved have for you 17:21 coming into the church, coming back into the church? 17:23 I wanted to be involved 17:25 from the time that I got re-baptized. 17:29 And when I caught the felony charge, you know, 17:32 the church put sanctions against me, 17:34 it was kind of a big public ordeal, 17:36 I'm on television, "Ricky Wade gets arrested." 17:40 So, you know, I had all the shame and regret. 17:45 I wasn't sorry at that point, you know, 17:48 I was only sorry for the consequences 17:49 and sometimes maybe that's what prevents our life 17:52 and our faith from growing because we aren't truly sorry. 17:56 We just wish that the circumstances 17:58 weren't so heavy upon us. 18:00 Okay. So... 18:05 If you can just deepen your relationship with the Lord 18:09 by studying the Bible and praying a little bit, 18:12 I think that it'll lead you to exactly where you need to be. 18:14 Okay, okay. 18:15 Now you're a pastor of three churches now. 18:18 What led you from growing up as Adventist, 18:21 getting involved in drugs, having a felony, 18:23 getting involved in church but then feeling 18:25 called to the ministry? 18:27 David Asscherick preached a sermon at Kentucky-Tennessee 18:30 camp meeting one year. 18:32 Okay. 18:33 He made the appeal call, I wasn't meeting, 18:36 I felt an extreme conviction, I felt a heavy burden. 18:40 Souls weren't a part of my Christian walk 18:42 and I wanted this burden for souls 18:45 and whenever he made the appeal that's what lit the fire. 18:48 Okay. 18:49 And just to... 18:54 By then I'd already had my felony conviction. 18:56 So when he made that call, I made the commitment, 18:59 "Lord, if you will seriously just open up the door, 19:02 I don't know what you want me to do." 19:04 So I went to Arise, started doing Bible work, 19:07 South Central Conference picked me up. 19:10 This year is the 70th year anniversary 19:12 for South Central Conference and I'm the first 19:15 and only Caucasian guy, 19:16 only white boy in South Central, 19:19 so I'm grateful to President Edmond 19:23 and the rest of this conference for what they're doing. 19:26 You know, they're trying to expand ministry, 19:29 trying to involve everybody, 19:31 and so I'm really grateful for that. 19:32 But, you know, when you want to serve God and you ask Him, 19:39 He says, "The workers are few," and so if you want to work 19:42 and you're willing to submit, He'll open the door. 19:45 So I went from Bible worker to pastor and... 19:47 Okay. 19:49 I had just graduated this last May with a degree 19:53 from Andrews, so I've got my master's 19:56 in pastoral ministry... 19:57 Okay, praise the Lord. 19:58 And this three church district is just another blessing, 20:03 I mean, three churches is a lot of work. 20:04 Yeah, definitely. But it's just time management. 20:07 Once everyone realizes that 20:09 what a pastor should be doing is training his people. 20:11 Okay. 20:13 Train them how to serve God too and then your churches 20:15 will grow because that's God's will. 20:17 Okay. 20:18 So you have a church not just, not just speaking of you 20:21 but in general, you have churches 20:23 who are close by prisons. 20:27 And they want to get involved but they're scared 20:30 to get involved in prison ministries 20:32 or not really sure 20:33 what kind of ministries they want to get involved with, 20:35 but they know that they need to do something. 20:38 So how do you go about training the church to get involved 20:41 in prison ministry or ministry period, 20:44 and even those who are coming into the church 20:46 so that they're active in the church? 20:47 Sure. 20:49 I think that some of the first steps 20:50 or maybe meeting with the mayor of your city. 20:52 Okay. 20:54 And just trying to find out what some of the needs 20:56 of the city might be. 20:57 Do you have single moms, 21:00 maybe that can be your ministry focus. 21:02 Do you have individuals 21:04 that English is the second language, 21:08 they need a GED. 21:09 Basically make anything a ministry. 21:10 Yeah, because the whole point is to help somebody 21:14 where there is a need and then allow God to open those doors 21:17 so that you can begin to share 21:19 the love of Christ with everybody. 21:21 Okay, okay. And that's very important. 21:23 I know for me when I came back into the church, 21:26 I really needed to get involved because I felt like 21:29 if I didn't get involved with something that, you know, 21:32 I just go right back out the door. 21:33 That's right. 21:34 And I think when you stop one thing, 21:36 you need to put something else in its place 21:38 because if you don't, then the devil will definitely 21:40 find something for you. 21:42 And so the individuals that you've seen, 21:44 that you've worked with, what have you seen for them 21:46 has been some of the biggest struggles 21:48 that they've had with being, staying in the church 21:53 with getting involved in the church, 21:55 and remaining in that transformation process 21:58 and allowing them to do the work 21:59 because so many people I see, 22:01 they said, it says, "Well, I messed up today, 22:03 I messed up tomorrow and I messed up the next day. 22:05 Well, God doesn't want me." 22:06 So what can we do for that individual that believes that 22:10 that he's saying that says, "You know what," 22:12 say to them that, "You know what, 22:14 despite that you mess up God still loves you." 22:17 What can we say to that individual 22:19 to not decide to just walk out the door 22:20 because they messed up? 22:23 Ultimately Jesus died 22:26 while we were still yet sinners. 22:28 And so I think that individuals, 22:33 I love the individual that is sparkly clean. 22:35 Never, I wish that we could all be like that 22:39 and I think they've got the strongest testimony. 22:42 But when you find somebody that has messed up 22:45 and then you can show them, "Look, God can take 22:48 the nastiest picture and He can transform it. 22:51 He can move you to a different level of life." 22:54 And so the biggest factor that's going to be involved 22:56 is helping that person feel like 22:58 he's part of the church family 23:00 and if he's not going to be a part of the church family, 23:02 make him feel that he's a part of your family. 23:05 Okay. Invite him over. 23:08 Help him, go to his house, visit on a regular basis, 23:10 develop that friendship and make sure 23:12 that he has something to do 23:14 that is going to be different from the activities 23:17 that he used to be involved in 23:18 because if not he'll go back to finding those old friends. 23:21 If he loves motorcycles he's going to, 23:23 and his friends rode motorcycles with 23:25 and you need to... Get back involved with it. 23:27 Yeah, you need to attach him to a church group of people 23:29 that ride motorcycles. 23:30 You know, whatever it is get that individual attached 23:34 to a friendly warm person that can help walk them along 23:38 and then teach people. 23:39 Yeah, okay. 23:41 Get up and study your Bible on a regular basis. 23:42 Read the word, let God talk to you 23:44 and then begin talking to Him in prayer. 23:46 At first it may be only a minute or two 23:48 but your muscles will grow if you use them. 23:50 Definitely, definitely. 23:51 You know, I forgot to ask you in the beginning 23:53 when you were doing the recap of your testimony. 23:55 What was that motivating factor that led you 23:58 to from the Adventist Church, a Christian home 24:01 into getting involved with drugs? 24:04 It wasn't peer pressure because I was the one 24:07 trying to always peer pressure people into doing things. 24:11 It's just temptation, by nature we're evil people, 24:15 we're carnal. 24:16 And so it's much easier to do those things 24:19 than it is to surrender 24:21 and give God control of your life. 24:22 We all, we all want to be in control, 24:24 maybe that's why some Christians 24:26 don't have transformation 24:27 because they don't have confidence in God's word 24:30 and so they never fully surrender to Him. 24:33 They want to finish the work but the Bible promises 24:35 that He'll finish the work if I'll just let Him, right? 24:38 Definitely, definitely. 24:39 So, how long was that time span 24:41 that you were involved with drugs? 24:44 From the time I was about 17 until probably about 10 years. 24:50 Okay. 24:51 And being that you grew up in a Christian household, 24:54 how did that affect that you saw, 24:55 what kind of effect did that have upon your family? 24:58 The drugs weren't that big of a deal 25:00 because we wouldn't, 25:02 I wouldn't try to be very open with it. 25:04 You know, people may have known that we were running 25:08 and we were the wrong group to hang around with 25:10 but overall we didn't let everybody know exactly 25:17 what we were doing so, and you know, you... 25:20 If you're trying to sell a little something, you know, 25:24 you try to keep on the down low as much as possible. 25:27 So, you know, the family knew that 25:32 that I wasn't on the path that I should have been on, 25:34 but I would still be going to church. 25:35 Okay. 25:37 You know I'd be using drugs, drinking the night before 25:39 and still get up and go to church. 25:41 Okay. 25:42 But I was, I was a cold Christian, 25:44 I wasn't even lukewarm. 25:47 And so when the conviction came 25:50 I was ready to follow a conviction, 25:52 I was ready for something different. 25:53 Okay, okay. Praise the Lord. 25:55 What I want you to do, I want you to take 25:56 about a minute or so, and I want you to talk 25:57 to that individual who is struggling 25:59 with their Christian walk. 26:00 I want you to look into the camera 26:01 and talk to that individual who is, 26:03 who has made the change in their life 26:05 or trying to make the change in their life. 26:07 They're transitioning into the church 26:09 and transitioning into a whole new lifestyle, 26:12 something totally different than what they're used to 26:15 and they're struggling. 26:16 But I want you to talk to that individual, 26:18 give them some words of encouragement 26:20 to help them press forward. 26:22 Very good. 26:24 When you feel that point in your life 26:27 where God is calling you, this is the point 26:29 that you must surrender 26:31 and surrender is kind of a hard thing at first 26:33 because you don't know exactly 26:35 what it entails but get a Bible, 26:38 find some church people that can walk with you 26:41 that will lead you into a deeper relationship 26:44 with Jesus. 26:46 Ask them to pray with you. 26:47 You don't have to be together physically to pray with people, 26:50 call them on the telephone, Skype and FaceTime 26:55 and just ask them to pray for you even. 26:59 You may not even know how to pray, 27:00 but begin to ask God to pour into your life, 27:03 begin to have... 27:05 Ask Him to show you verses in the Bible that are promises 27:08 that you can cling to that you can hang on to 27:12 and then let your faith, let your confidence grow 27:15 in what God is saying 27:17 what those promises are claiming, 27:19 believe that they can come true in your life. 27:21 And if you begin to claim those promises 27:24 on a regular basis, if you begin to believe 27:27 that what God says that you can take to the bank, 27:31 then your Christian life will grow. 27:33 You'll begin to tell your friends, 27:35 the ones that used to be more like you 27:38 and less like new church friends 27:40 that you have, you'll begin to want 27:42 to share with them and begin to want to help them 27:45 to come out of that lifestyle. 27:46 And when you begin serving other people, 27:49 when you begin serving God, 27:50 that's when your life will be transformed eternally. 27:55 Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. 27:56 Well, Pastor Wade, we want to thank you once again 27:58 for being on the program and sharing 27:59 that important information, I know it would be 28:02 such a great blessing to many viewers. 28:03 Amen. 28:05 We want to thank you once again 28:06 for tuning in to another exciting episode 28:08 of The New Journey. 28:09 Until next time, be blessed. |
Revised 2017-09-18