Participants: Yvonne Lewis (Host), Ezra Bates, Timothy Nixon
Series Code: UBR
Program Code: UBR000091S
|
00:01 Dare to Dream has a new series: Foundation of our Faith.
00:04 Stay tuned to meet the speaker and the musical evangelist 00:08 that are launching it. My name is Yvonne Lewis 00:11 and you're watching Urban Report. 00:34 Hello and welcome to Urban Report. 00:36 My guests today are Dr. Timothy Nixon 00:39 and Brian Ezra Bates. 00:41 I had the opportunity to sit down with Dr. Nixon 00:44 and Brian on the set of Foundation of our Faith: 00:47 Dare to Dream's new series. 00:50 I first talked to Dr. Timothy Nixon, 00:53 who by the way is an old family friend... 00:56 like a cousin to me. 00:58 He grew up in the inner city and we went to the same church. 01:02 Our parents were friends. 01:04 I was close to his family. 01:05 So it was really a blessing to bring him here 01:09 and to have him as our first speaker. Take a look. 01:15 As you know, I love to be on the set 01:19 of a new program for Dare to Dream 01:22 with the speaker or the host. It is such a blessing for me. 01:26 And tonight I am thrilled to be here 01:30 with my friend, my family... I call him my cousin... 01:34 Dr. Timothy Nixon, who is the associate chaplain 01:38 at Andrews University. Thank you so much. 01:41 Thank you. May I call you Tim? Yes you may. OK. 01:45 Tim, you are just such a blessed speaker. 01:51 And one of the things that I notice is that 01:55 you have a passion when you speak. 01:58 You are fervent about what you're talking about... 02:03 about your topic. Where do you think that comes from? 02:06 That passion, that fervency for the Word? 02:11 Where do you think that comes from? 02:14 Boy... wow! 02:20 I just believe that there's such an urgency all the time. 02:26 Especially now. 02:32 You just never know whoever's listening to you 02:38 whether or not this might be the last time they hear a sermon. 02:42 Mmmm. And so 02:47 I really always feel that sense of urgency, 02:51 and I feel that especially believing 02:57 that God has given me something to say. 02:59 That it must be for someone who is there to hear the sermon. 03:04 Wow! That is so true. 03:05 This time... at this time in earth's history 03:10 we have to hear... people have to hear this message 03:14 because it could be the last time. That's right. 03:16 You grew up in the inner city... in Brooklyn. 03:20 That's right. Tell me about growing up in the inner city 03:24 'cause you are like a poster guy for Dare to Dream. 03:28 You know, you grew up in the inner city 03:30 and God has blessed you to just accomplish so many things. 03:33 And we praise Him for that. 03:35 Tell us about your background. 03:37 Well, I grew up in Brooklyn. 03:40 Bedford-Stuyvesant. 03:43 And you know thinking about those days growing up in the 03:47 1960's through the riots of the 60's. 03:51 Through the civil rights struggles. 03:53 Through so many things. 03:58 To just think of living through that 04:02 is just an amazing thing to think about. 04:05 And what brought me through that was family 04:08 and the church. 04:10 Those are the two things that I firmly believe 04:14 brought me through that. 04:15 You know, it's interesting that you would say that 04:17 because you were raised in a two-parent household. 04:22 I know... I knew your parents and they were like my aunt 04:28 and uncle. So how do you think 04:33 your upbringing gave you an advantage 04:38 over some of the boys that didn't have what you had? 04:44 It's invaluable. Ummm. 04:47 Just to... I often tell people that 04:52 there was never a thought in my mind 04:57 that my parents would ever divorce. Hmmm. 05:00 So to grow up never even thinking 05:05 that that would happen just takes such a burden 05:11 from you emotionally 05:14 and in every other way. 05:16 And to think that there are young people 05:19 who grow up having to deal with that kind of burden. 05:23 You know, I see them now... Being a chaplain 05:26 you see all kinds of young people who come to the campus 05:29 who come to school, you know, with varying kinds of 05:33 situations that they come with 05:34 and the various baggage that they come with. 05:36 And it's really amazing the kinds of things 05:39 that young people have to deal with and struggle through. 05:45 And to see them persevere 05:48 is really quite an amazing thing. 05:51 And it's so different, isn't it, from when we were kids. 05:54 I mean I know I'm older than you. 05:56 And you don't have to remind me of that. 05:58 Yes... just a little older. 06:02 But you know when we were coming up 06:05 we didn't have some of the same challenges 06:07 that we have now... that these kids have now. 06:10 Not at all. And so I know you see it first hand. 06:12 Can you give us an example of some student that you 06:17 have - without naming any names - but a challenge 06:19 that is different with a student that you have now 06:23 versus when you were coming up. 06:25 Well... I mean there are students who come 06:29 to our campus who are actually the glue 06:35 that holds their families together. 06:37 How so? 06:38 Financially. There have been situations where... 06:43 where we find out that there are students who are taking out 06:45 student loans to really support their families. 06:51 And it's really a tragic thing to find out. 06:56 You have those kinds of situations happening. 06:59 And it's really hard to fathom that this young adult 07:05 is carrying that kind of burden for their families 07:08 along with trying to get through college. 07:13 So it's really very challenging today 07:18 for some of the young adults. And of course, 07:20 you know, there are others who are really thriving 07:24 and who come from very strong families and strong backgrounds. 07:26 But you have those cases as well. 07:29 Yes, yes. You were in New York City 07:32 last year. What were you doing in New York City 07:35 evangelistically? 07:36 I was a speaker for one of the NY13 meetings 07:40 this past summer in Brooklyn. Back in Brooklyn. OK, OK. 07:44 At the Bushwick. OK. And it was really a... 07:49 It was an amazing thing to be back in Brooklyn 07:52 and to be in Brooklyn for an extended period of time. 07:55 I had been back before, but just a weekend here and there. 07:59 Right. But to be there for four weeks 08:02 and to really be back in Brooklyn and to 08:05 travel around and to get a feel for the city again 08:10 and to see how drastically it has changed was just amazing. 08:14 I was just going to ask you: how has it changed? 08:16 How is it the same and how is it changed? 08:19 It has... the demographic has changed tremendously. 08:25 The neighborhoods have changed tremendously. 08:29 It's just a completely different mix now. 08:35 And you would not recognize downtown Brooklyn 08:39 from the days when I grew up there and what it is today. 08:43 And it just reminded me how we have to think differently 08:49 about how to minister to the city 08:53 and how to reach people in cities today. 08:58 'Cause there are unique challenges, are there not? 09:01 I mean, unique challenges to inner city residents 09:05 that perhaps suburban people don't encounter. 09:10 For example, the gangs. 09:13 You know, you don't have a lot of gangs in the suburbs 09:17 but you do have the Bloods and the Crips 09:20 and all that in the inner cities. 09:22 And so what we're finding with the inner cities 09:25 is... the absentee fathers. 09:29 The mothers raising boys 09:33 without the fathers. I mean, this is happening in the suburbs 09:35 but it's happening a lot in the inner cities. 09:38 And so we have some really unique challenges. 09:43 Mass incarceration and all of these things. 09:46 So it's like... To me, you know, growing up... 09:50 I didn't grow up in Brooklyn but I went to church in Brooklyn 09:54 and my dad was your principal. 09:56 That's right. By the way, let me just ask you this: 09:58 did you get the wire like Pastor Lomacang? 10:00 Did you get the wire? Everybody got the wire. 10:05 Your father should be very lucky that he's not a principal 10:10 these days... he'd be in jail. 10:12 We won't talk about that. 10:15 But look how you turned out. Well, yes. 10:17 And look how Pastor Lomacang turned out. That's true, 10:20 that's true. We know you guys got a little spankings, but 10:22 you know... Well, I wouldn't call them little spankings. 10:25 But we won't talk about that. 10:28 You are here for Foundation of our Faith, 10:32 and you are our first speaker for this whole series. 10:35 Yes. Tell us a little bit about what you're going to be doing 10:39 with this series. 10:41 I'm going to be dealing with relationships 10:43 because I think that it's one of the most important 10:48 issues for us to deal with and talk about. 10:53 I think it's one of the biggest challenges in our community 10:57 today. Young people, young adults 11:01 and older people 11:06 have some of the greatest challenges as it relates to 11:09 relationships. Male, female, and marital relationships. 11:13 The home is at the center of our communities. 11:18 And so I felt it would be good to deal with 11:23 those issues. To talk about men in relationships, 11:26 women in relationships, marriage, and then the family. 11:29 And so I wanted to focus on that 11:31 and just spend some time talking about some real issues. 11:35 Some adult issues. We don't talk about adult issues in the 11:38 church - mmmm - and so I wanted to really spend some time 11:42 talking about some serious adult issues 11:44 in the church as opposed to letting everybody else 11:47 talk about it. I think that's so important 11:49 because there's so many things that sometimes we just tend to 11:53 sweep under the rug or we just don't deal with at all 11:56 because we don't feel that they're necessarily appropriate. 11:58 But they are. If we don't talk about them in church, 12:01 where are we going to really give a spiritual perspective 12:05 on those issues? So I think that 12:08 the whole relationship emphasis is critical. 12:13 Because again you know that, within American society 12:18 anyway, we have the erosion of the family... 12:21 and particularly in black communities we have the erosion 12:23 of the family... so we really need what you're bringing. 12:27 Thank you so very much for what you're doing for us. 12:31 And I want you to know, viewers, that these messages 12:36 are so God-sent. I know you're going to be blessed 12:40 by Dr. Timothy Nixon. 12:42 Thank you so much for being with us. 12:45 Thank you for having me. God bless. 12:49 It was so great to talk to Dr. Nixon 12:52 and to just see where he's come. 12:55 God has brought him a mighty long way. 12:58 Next I sat and talked to Brian Ezra Bates 13:01 and I was so impressed with his transparency. 13:05 He really opened up and shared some personal information. 13:09 One of the things that blesses me so much 13:12 about our speaker and our musician 13:16 is that they've been on the spiritual path. 13:19 And you can see. You'll be able to see with Brian 13:22 how God has just led him so far. 13:26 I'm sure it's going to bless you. It certainly blessed me. 13:29 Let's check it out. 13:32 Join me in welcoming Brian Ezra Bates 13:36 to the Foundation of our Faith set and Urban Report. 13:40 How are you? Hello! I'm great, thank you. 13:42 It's so great to have you. You are our musical evangelist 13:47 for this set of Foundation of our Faith - yes - 13:51 and we are just being blessed by your music. 13:56 Well it's a true blessing to be here. Well praise the Lord! 13:59 Tell me... Let's hear a little bit about your background. 14:03 Where'd you come from? Well, I was born in Jackson, MS. 14:08 I grew up some in Atlanta, Georgia. 14:11 And I moved to Huntsville, Alabama, when I was a senior 14:15 in high school. And I just recently moved from there 14:18 about a year and a half ago to another little city in Georgia 14:23 next to Chattanooga, TN. Oh wow, wow. 14:26 And are you in music ministry full time? 'Cause you certainly 14:29 have the gift. No, no. Full time I'm a drug and alcohol 14:34 counselor full time. How did you go there? 14:37 How did you get to be that? 14:39 Well I have a real passion for addiction - 14:43 all types of addiction - because of my family background 14:46 and my own personal history with it. 14:49 Tell us about that. 14:50 Well I grew up in a family of mostly men... 14:54 with my dad's family. And every man in my family 14:59 including my dad, his brothers, my uncles, 15:02 his uncles, his father even 15:05 suffered from some type of addiction. 15:10 His father died when he was six 15:12 of cirrhosis of the liver. 15:15 He drank himself to death. 15:17 Now this is your grandfather? 15:19 This is my grandfather who I never met 15:20 because of his alcoholism. 15:22 I have uncles who were raising alcoholics. 15:26 My father was an alcoholic, a drug addict, sex addict... 15:31 and his brothers were the same. 15:33 And so addiction just runs rampant through the men 15:37 in my family. And so once I had my own personal struggle 15:42 with it I had to really depend on God to change some things 15:48 in my life. And once He did 15:50 I was able to understand some of the things that He 15:53 did those things for. And part of the reason was 15:55 because of my own personal testimony that He had given me 15:58 and the responsibility to share that. 16:01 How did? Let's unpack that a little bit. 16:05 How did you fall into it as well? 16:09 Well my uncle actually introduced me to some things. 16:13 Was he a young uncle? 16:15 Well at the time he was younger but he was older than me. 16:18 He was my dad's age, but at the time he was a younger man, 16:22 of course. And he introduced me to pornography 16:25 at a very early age. I was very intrigued by it. 16:30 Of course. I was a young boy but definitely too young 16:34 to be exposed to that type of thing. No man should be, 16:37 but I was very young. 16:39 And I had an empty place in my spirit because I never 16:44 really had a connection with my father. 16:46 I never really felt like he liked me when I was a kid 16:49 growing up. I would do things for him, but he just never 16:52 really seemed interested. And so I already had a hole there. 16:55 And so my uncle introduced me to something that I could 16:58 actually fill that hole with for a very long time in my life. 17:00 And so I started very early 17:03 delving into pornography and all of such things. 17:08 And I took it into a marriage that I ultimately lost. 17:12 And, you know, it ran rampant through my life as well. 17:16 It's amazing, isn't it Brian? how... On Urban Report 17:20 I always talk about God's plan. 17:24 And God has a plan for each person and so does Satan. 17:29 Yes. And Satan's plan is to ultimately destroy you. Yes. 17:35 And God's plan is to prosper you - yes - 17:38 and to give you a future and a hope. Correct. 17:41 And some times families just get caught up... 17:44 families, generations. Um-hmm. You know, there are generations 17:48 of issues. Yes. And so what you're telling us 17:51 is that you had generational issues 17:55 with addiction... whether it was pornography or substance abuse 18:00 or whatever. Right, right. And that is part of what 18:05 Satan's plan was for you. Right. 18:08 Where was your mom in all this? 18:09 Were you raised by your mom at all? Yeah, my poor mom. 18:12 She was kind of helpless to the whole thing. 18:16 She married this man who was a great man. 18:18 My father was a great man but he had these vices 18:22 that ultimately destroyed their marriage. 18:25 And so I grew up in several kinds of homes. 18:27 I grew up in a loving home with my mom and dad at first. 18:32 And then all of a sudden tumultuously thrown into 18:35 a single-parent home where... I stayed with my mom, of course. 18:39 And then I moved with my dad for a spell 18:42 which was really rough on my life as well. 18:44 Which is actually where I discovered my love for music 18:47 was with my father. 18:48 Mmmm. I grew up with music in the home. 18:51 I mean, all types of gospel music, secular music. 18:54 And that was... For a long time my escape 18:58 was into music. 19:01 And so I actually ended up moving back with my mom 19:04 at some point, and my love for music continued to just grow. 19:09 And I know it was God because He knew that I needed 19:12 something to help me keep grounded during the process 19:15 of delving actually even further into my addiction. 19:18 And I'm just grateful to Him for that. 19:21 Yes, yes... He's so good. 19:24 And even when we stray, even when we go away from Him 19:29 He gently leads us back. Yeah. 19:32 How did you find God? 19:35 How did He become the Lord of your life? 19:38 Hmmm... I was searching, I was searching. 19:40 I was sick... I was tired of being tired. 19:43 And you know, I knew that... How old were you? 19:47 My relationship... my real relationship with Him started 19:50 when I was probably about 20. 19:52 19... 18 or 19. 19:55 And I was really tired of the way that I was living. 19:59 And I had met this beautiful young lady, and she was a SDA. 20:03 I wasn't Adventist. 20:05 And I started going to church with her 20:07 and going to Oakwood College to AYS 20:11 and being exposed to the music there. 20:13 And I made a promise to God. I said: "God, if You will bless 20:17 my voice and help me to get better" - 'cause I thought I was 20:20 pretty good. Turns out I wasn't very good in fact. 20:24 She let me know that without any question. 20:27 But I told Him if He blessed my voice that I would only use it 20:30 for Him. And He began to do that. 20:34 And it was during that process of time that I got 20:39 acquainted with the church 20:40 and started studying for myself for the first time in my life. 20:43 Reading the Bible for myself and studying these powerful 20:46 messages. And God just... He just did something for me. 20:50 I mean, and it was amazing how He turned my life. 20:53 God is amazing because all of your steps 20:58 were orchestrated - yes, every one - 21:01 so even when you made mistakes He was bringing you back. 21:03 He was exposing you to music - yes - and the things that 21:07 would draw you to Him. Yes. People and places that 21:10 would draw you to Him. Yes. 21:12 So at what point did you finally say "I surrender... 21:16 I give my life to You. " How old were you then? 21:18 I was probably about the same age. It probably happened 21:20 about a year later so I was probably 19. 21:23 And that's when I got baptized. 21:25 And I completely gave my life over to God. 21:28 I tried to carry the message to everybody I met. 21:30 Even to my family... who are still not Adventists 21:33 but that's what happened for me. 21:36 That's what happened for me. 21:37 And my struggle with my addic- tion got a lot worse after that. 21:41 Really? It did. It really did. How so? 21:45 How did it get worse? 21:46 Because at that point I was now part of this church. 21:50 And I had experience with God that was real 21:53 and so I felt like that experience was going to cure me. 21:57 Hmmm. And it definitely was the stepping stone 22:01 towards aiding me, but because I had an expectation 22:07 that wasn't realistic my addiction got much worse. 22:11 So what did you do? 22:13 What did you do to actually 22:18 get on a different path? 'Cause it was getting worse... 22:21 Um-hmm. How did you get it better? 22:23 What did God do through you? He broke me, man. 22:27 He broke me. He broke me and everything that I held so dearly 22:32 was taken from me and I hit what they call "rock bottom. " 22:36 And I ended up actually going to rehab 22:41 and counseling and support groups. 22:43 With prayer and fasting and everything that the church 22:48 taught me to do. I had to not only do that 22:51 but I had to actually join that with some other things. 22:55 You know, I had a lot of formulas in my head 22:57 about what I thought I should do. 22:59 You know, the praying and the things that the church teaches. 23:04 And I didn't actually grab onto some of these other things 23:09 as well like counseling and things. 23:11 Had a lot of Christians tell me that all I needed 23:13 was to just pray and just fast and just give it to God. 23:16 And I did all of that and it just never went away. 23:18 Um-hmm. And when it actually came to me was one day 23:22 I was praying I said: "God, I just need You to take this 23:24 from me. " And He spoke very clearly to me. He said: 23:27 "No, I want you to give it to Me. " 23:29 Wow! And so that's when my process of surrender started. 23:33 Wow! What a deep point. 23:35 Not take it from me but the Lord said 23:39 "give it to Me. " He wanted me to offer it up to Him as a gift. 23:42 And I was thinking: "Why would You want this as a gift? " 23:45 You know: "Why would You want this as my offering to You... 23:49 this awful thing? " 23:51 And He made it very clear to me that He put it in my life 23:55 at a time when I actually needed it 23:58 to survive some of the things that I was going through 24:00 as a way to disconnect from it so that I could survive it. 24:03 And now I didn't need it any more so He wanted it back. 24:07 Wow! So you had to surrender your life 24:12 and God also allowed you to get the tools that you needed. 24:16 Yes. You needed some tools - yeah - to get through it. 24:20 Some real stuff, yeah. Right? Um-hmm. And it wasn't just... 24:23 It's OK to get counseling; it's OK to get tools - yes - 24:27 and help - yes - you know, because God works through 24:31 people as well. That's right; that's right. 24:32 So what a blessing... what a blessing. 24:35 And your story is so powerful because you show - 24:41 and your transparency is a blessing, too - 24:43 and you show that it's God's work in you. 24:47 God is working through you. 24:49 What do you want? In about a minute, what do you want 24:52 our viewers to know about Brian Ezra Bates. 24:56 I am a man saved by grace. 24:58 And He took me from a place of shame 25:04 to a place of grace. 25:06 And I'm so grateful... and that's it. 25:08 I mean, for me I just want to share 25:11 as much as I can with everybody. 25:13 I'm an open book as you can tell. 25:17 But there's no shame here any more. 25:19 It's just grace, and I just want to share that grace 25:22 with others. Amen. Well, thank you for sharing 25:24 that with us and thank you for sharing your wonderful gift. 25:28 And viewers: you are going to be so blessed 25:31 when you hear the ministry of Brian Ezra Bates. 25:35 Thanks. 25:38 I really enjoy talking to our guests 25:41 on the sets of their programs. 25:43 It seems to be a comfortable environment for the guests 25:46 and it's a change of pace for me. 25:48 I hope that you were inspired by these interviews 25:51 and that you will apply any spiritual lessons 25:53 that you learned from them. 25:55 Man, Brian's testimony is so powerful! 25:59 Just to know that he went through all of those twists 26:03 and turns and God has him on his feet standing and ministering 26:08 before people now. It is such an amazing blessing. 26:12 And wait until you hear Dr. Nixon's sermons 26:15 and Brian's music. 26:17 Make sure to tune in to Dare to Dream 26:20 and watch Foundation of our Faith. 26:22 Check the website for the scheduled days and the times 26:25 of this airing. Also, if you know of any singers, 26:30 musicians, artists, that would like to be on Dare to Dream 26:35 or be on Magnify Him or be featured on Foundation 26:40 of our Faith, please contact us here. 26:43 You can write me here care of: 27:11 Call us and let us know or send some music. 27:14 Send a sample of your music so that we can hear 27:17 and then we'll be able to check it out and see if 27:20 it'll work for Magnify Him. 27:23 We are looking for people to minister not just perform. 27:27 Performance is not what we're looking for. 27:30 We're looking for ministry and of course great voices 27:33 and great musicians. So please, support us in that effort. 27:37 Pray for us, and also support us financially. 27:41 Ask the Lord what He would have you to do 27:43 for Dare to Dream and how He would have you to support us. 27:48 We really need your prayers and your financial support. 27:51 Well, that's the end of our program for today. 27:54 I hope that you were blessed. I hope that you were inspired. 27:57 And I hope that you will tune in on a regular basis. 28:00 Thanks for tuning in today. 28:02 Join us next time. Just wouldn't be the same without you. |
Revised 2023-10-07