Urban Report

Laymen for a Finished Work

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants: Jason Bradley (Host), Sandy Smith

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Series Code: UBR

Program Code: UBR000188A


00:01 Stay tuned to meet a man who left the NBA after two years
00:03 and grew to be on fire for the Lord.
00:05 My name is Jason Bradley
00:07 and you're watching Urban Report.
00:32 Hello and welcome to Urban Report.
00:34 My guest today is Sandy Smith and he is the Director of
00:37 Laymen For A Finished Work.
00:39 Sandy won Columbia Union College's
00:41 Coach of the Year Award for two consecutive years.
00:44 The Phoenix Suns drafted him to the NBA
00:47 and he was inducted to the
00:48 Winston-Salem State University Sports Hall of Fame.
00:52 These are just a few of his many accomplishments.
00:55 Welcome to Urban Report Sandy.
00:56 Thank you.
00:58 It's great to have you here amen...
01:00 Tell us, we want to know...
01:01 often we want to start with the background
01:03 so, give us a little bit of your childhood,
01:06 where did you grow up?
01:07 Oh, I grew up in Jersey City, New Jersey,
01:10 stayed there for maybe ten years.
01:12 My father was sent to prison
01:15 so we moved to Trenton, New Jersey,
01:17 where I spent most of my teenage life
01:20 there in Trenton, New Jersey.
01:21 Hmmm... okay... in Trenton New Jersey!
01:23 I grew up in New York a little bit
01:26 so that's... New Jersey and New York is...
01:28 Sandy: close... Jason: very, very close...
01:29 And what was your childhood like?
01:31 Well, as a childhood... again...
01:33 father was sent to prison for drug use
01:37 and so my mother had to attempt to raise
01:40 four young siblings on her own,
01:43 so, it was a very rough, rough childhood for me...
01:47 Okay, well you've had quite a journey as well
01:51 I mean... all of the accomplishments,
01:53 I only listened to a few of the accomplishments
01:55 that God has blessed you to be able to make
01:58 so... at... were you a Christian?
02:02 Were you Seventh-day Adventist growing up
02:04 or what was your faith like?
02:06 Well, my mother... I always say that...
02:09 she's passed six months' ago but my mother...
02:11 we had no religious background,
02:13 we weren't atheist
02:14 but we just had no understanding of God
02:17 or the plan of salvation or devil
02:19 so we pretty much... like a lot of people...
02:22 just pretty much... just day by day
02:24 just did what you had to do
02:26 but no religious background at all.
02:28 Was anybody around you religious?
02:30 None... no... none... we just... no religious background at all.
02:35 Wow, wow... and how do you think
02:38 that affected you as a child, like... did you ever...
02:41 go to school or anything and notice any differences
02:45 with the kids or... and then how do you think that
02:48 played out in your childhood?
02:50 Well, when you grow up...
02:51 I'll say... when you grow up in the hood,
02:53 pretty much everybody is the same...
02:56 living the same type of lives you just...
02:58 you know... from food from hand to mouth
03:01 and you just get by... there's drugs,
03:03 there's alcoholism, there's prostitution,
03:06 there's fighting and killing so, you just kind of fit in,
03:09 and there's nobody that really sets the example for you,
03:12 it's just... basically,
03:13 we're all living the same type of lives.
03:15 Yeah, yeah, trying to make it. Sandy: Trying to make it.
03:17 Now, how do you think that you were able to...
03:21 or how would you say that
03:23 you were able to avoid succumbing to
03:26 the peer pressure and the things
03:28 that you probably faced growing up?
03:30 Well, to be honest, I didn't escape a lot of it
03:33 at the age of maybe 8-years' old I was already involved in sex
03:38 because that was...
03:40 that was a thing that happened in the ghetto
03:43 and so, I didn't avoid some of those things,
03:46 we stole, we stayed out late at night,
03:49 my mother was a wonderful mother
03:51 but with four rambunctious children,
03:52 I mean, there wasn't much she was going to do
03:55 to control us so at a very early age
03:57 you know, you learn to smoke...
03:58 pick up cigarette butts on the ground,
04:02 you get involved with sex, you get involved with stealing,
04:05 you get involved with cursing,
04:06 that's just the way of life
04:08 in many places in the inner cities.
04:09 Yeah, yeah, and so,
04:12 how did you make it out of that situation?
04:15 Well, the one thing that I have really learned
04:19 is that God... when He sees you in a situation
04:22 and He knows your heart,
04:24 He knows that you haven't had an opportunity
04:27 to learn about Him because of your background,
04:29 many times things will happen and in not knowing God,
04:33 you feel like... "Well, God...
04:35 why are you allowing me to go through what I'm going through?"
04:38 So in our situation, we went to Trenton...
04:41 my mother came down with Tuberculosis,
04:44 we were living in a Boarding House
04:47 in a one-room apartment, four children and a mother
04:49 and I noticed, as the... the oldest of the four siblings
04:54 my mother was doing a lot of coughing
04:56 and to my surprise, I went to school one day
04:58 and I came home and I saw the ambulance
05:01 in front of our Boarding House
05:02 and I went upstairs and here... my mother was being
05:05 placed on a gurney, taken to the hospital,
05:10 they didn't know if she was going to live or not,
05:11 she had Tuberculosis, so the four of us were split up,
05:14 two went to one foster home...
05:17 two went to another foster home
05:19 and I didn't even know God but I said,
05:21 "God, why are you doing this to us?
05:23 I mean... we are already in a bad situation,
05:26 we are living in a Boarding House
05:28 in a one room... a one room...
05:30 and now my mother is going to a sanitarium... she might die,"
05:34 I must have been around 13-years old
05:36 and so, that's not a good idea of going to a foster home,
05:42 and you're being split up so it's like,
05:44 my world had just about come to an end,
05:46 as far as I was thinking.
05:47 Wow! but yet... God still pulled you through...
05:53 even though you weren't...
05:55 I know you weren't in the church... you weren't religious,
05:57 you didn't have the religious background,
06:00 but... the amazing thing is that even...
06:03 sometimes in that situation, God never leaves or forsakes us.
06:09 Well, the thing is, as I look back over the years,
06:13 that was the greatest blessing that I could have...
06:16 we could have received because
06:18 remember, we were running the streets,
06:20 Twelve... one o'clock at night...
06:21 really, no supervision, and going to the foster home
06:25 God was taking us out of a negative situation
06:29 into a positive... because even though
06:31 we were going to a home where the lady was a Baptist
06:34 and her husband... but here were... they were
06:36 serious Baptist members
06:40 and they gave us rules and regulations
06:42 be in at sundown... no cursing...
06:45 no... no running the streets,
06:47 so God was taking us out of a negative situation
06:50 and to a positive one so that's where
06:53 the seeds of Christianity were planted in my young heart
06:56 because this lady and her husband believed,
06:58 you went to Sunday School,
07:00 you went to Divine Worship Service
07:03 and you went to Evening Services
07:06 so we went to church three times on Sunday
07:08 and I said, "You know,
07:10 this is a pretty good life, I like this... "
07:12 living with my mother... I mean, we had the same clothes,
07:16 we... underwear, undershirts, socks...
07:18 we were never able to change that
07:20 because my mother was poor,
07:21 we were receiving welfare
07:22 but when we went to this foster home
07:25 now we had our own clothing, I had a job in the morning,
07:29 I worked in the afternoon, I worked on the weekends,
07:32 I had money saved
07:34 so God took a bad situation and turned it into a good situation.
07:37 Yes, so even though the circumstances were...
07:40 they weren't favorable...
07:42 they were unfavorable circumstances,
07:44 there was still a blessing at the end of the tunnel because
07:47 it sounds like you had more structure,
07:50 you were provided with a job, I mean...
07:52 and you were introduced to Christianity for the first time.
07:57 So how did you... how did you feel at that point?
08:03 Did you feel like things were changing for the better?
08:06 Did you feel like you were starting to move up?
08:10 Well, after living the type of life
08:13 that my three siblings and I lived,
08:16 that was not a pleasant experience,
08:19 I mean, there were some days
08:20 we didn't even know if we were going to eat,
08:22 I mean, some days we had one meal a day
08:24 and we would go to the farm and pick tomatoes and blueberries
08:29 just to have a meal for the week
08:31 and so... going to the foster home...
08:33 at first I rebelled against it,
08:35 I mean, I didn't like being there...
08:37 being separated from my mother
08:39 and being separated from two of my siblings
08:42 but after a while... it was like...
08:44 "Man, this is a good... a good experience...
08:47 and it came to a point that
08:49 even if I knew my mother was going to recover,
08:51 I wasn't sure if I even wanted to go back home,
08:54 I was enjoying that life so much, so for me...
08:57 it was a change of thoughts and it was a change of lifestyle
09:01 and I really, really enjoyed it.
09:04 Wow! now... so at that time...
09:06 did the stealing and the other things stop?
09:08 I know that there is... you couldn't curse there
09:11 because it was a Christian household...
09:14 but did the stealing stop, did the...
09:16 What was going on in that part?
09:18 Were you transitioning out of that at that time?
09:20 Well, once we learned that lifestyle,
09:23 the cursing ended, the stealing ended,
09:26 going to church... I was singing in the choir,
09:29 singing solos and...
09:30 it was really a very dramatic change
09:34 and I really enjoyed it
09:35 so all of those things... fell off...
09:37 and I know that God allowed us to go into the foster home
09:42 to bring about that change
09:44 so for me... that was the change of my life
09:46 and I never looked back after that.
09:48 Yeah... a blessing at the end
09:50 of a tunnel. Sandi: Yes.
09:51 Now, when did basketball come into play?
09:55 See, I love basketball, I play basketball when I can...
09:58 I'm not going to the league now... I'm past that
10:01 but I enjoy to play it recreationally
10:06 but when did you begin playing basketball?
10:09 Well, I started playing at the foster home,
10:13 I was an average player
10:15 but the thing that really changed my life
10:18 with basketball is... when we went back to Trenton,
10:21 I was in the 8th Grade and the thing is
10:26 if you make the team in Junior High School,
10:28 I mean, that was like... you were a celebrity.
10:29 Jason: Wow!
10:31 And so they said, "Ah... there's no need for you
10:33 to even go out... you're 5.9...
10:35 we got players that will play
10:37 rings around you... circles around you"
10:39 and it was something in me that said,
10:41 "You know what... I'm going to prove these guys wrong"
10:43 so I went on the playground going to my 9th Grade
10:46 and while most were in the swimming pool,
10:49 they would see me out in the court,
10:51 they'd drive by and say,
10:52 "Hey stupid, you're out here in this hot sun"
10:54 and I just played and played and played and I came back...
10:57 in my 9th Grade year, I made the team
10:59 so now, we're going to the high school... 10th Grade...
11:02 so I went out... it was just luck,
11:03 "You won't make the JVs at the high school level"
11:06 so I went back out on the playground,
11:07 while most of my guys... they were much better than me...
11:11 and I knew I had a lot of making up to do,
11:13 so, 10th Grade, I did the same thing,
11:16 made the team... started...
11:17 11th Grade, they said,
11:18 "Well now, this is the varsity buddy, this is not JVs,"
11:22 so, I just continued my habit and I played and played
11:26 and I came back, made the high school team,
11:29 was a star... made All State
11:31 came back... my senior year... nobody said anything,
11:34 I broke all the records... city, county,
11:36 was "All East Coast"
11:38 now, in my senior year
11:40 I had offers around the Country
11:42 and so now... the ball was in my court.
11:44 I could choose where I wanted to go to college.
11:47 Wow! you had to make your haters your motivation
11:50 because everybody was telling you, "Oh, you can't do that,
11:52 why are you going to even try to help the team?"
11:55 But you didn't listen to that,
11:57 you just stayed focused and persevered
12:01 and so, then you went to college,
12:04 you were at Winston?
12:07 Winston-Salem State University Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
12:10 And you ended up being inducted into the Hall of Fame
12:14 and you played for the Phoenix Suns for two years,
12:17 tell us about that.
12:19 Well, actually, when I left New Jersey,
12:21 even though I was All State
12:22 and one of the top players in the Country,
12:25 but I went through the same thing again,
12:28 they said, "Well, you know,
12:29 you were all of that in Trenton, New Jersey,
12:32 State of New Jersey, but this is North Carolina,
12:34 we got all Americans and All State"
12:36 so I had to go down there and prove myself again
12:39 and I was determined, Jason,
12:42 that I was going to graduate from college,
12:43 nobody in my family...
12:45 my father... he graduated from high school,
12:47 nobody went any further so, it was like,
12:49 "Man! if I could go to college and graduate... "
12:52 so at Winston-Salem I played hard
12:54 and my first two years there, I made "All Conference,"
12:59 "All Big South" and I wound up...
13:03 wound up graduating in 3 years rather than 4 years,
13:07 that's how determined I was, I was taking 20... 21 hours...
13:10 and playing basketball so then, I actually...
13:14 like I said earlier... "You're going to go up
13:18 and there are going to be times... you're coming down
13:20 so don't become too relaxed where you are. "
13:24 I was drafted by the Phoenix Suns...
13:26 but the Phoenix Suns decided, you know,
13:28 "We're only going to take our first four draft picks,"
13:30 they had 20 draft picks, I was the 9th,
13:32 they decided, "We're only going to take
13:34 the four top draft picks, nobody else is coming to camp,
13:37 so I wound up playing in the Baltimore Bullets Organization
13:41 which is now... the Wizards.
13:42 Oh, okay, okay, and after those two years,
13:46 why did you decide to leave?
13:49 I know, people were probably like...
13:51 you were young, first of all...
13:53 and so, I'm sure, you know the NBA pays pretty well,
13:56 why... people are thinking,
13:59 "Why would you leave that, why did you give that up?"
14:02 Well, when I was a little boy and I don't know...
14:05 I didn't know where it came from then...
14:07 but I do now where it comes from now.
14:10 I believe the Holy Spirit had convinced me
14:13 that I've got a calling on your life
14:16 and that, you're going to be doing more
14:19 than playing basketball and so,
14:21 even when I was running the streets,
14:23 drinking beer, carousing and doing all those things,
14:27 I always knew that... God only allowed me to go so far
14:31 I never got into the drugs,
14:33 I was the type of person who tried to be kind to people,
14:38 tried to help people and I always knew
14:41 there was a calling on my life but what it was...
14:43 I had no clue, so after two years...
14:46 I was out on the basketball court,
14:48 we were playing at Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania,
14:50 it was raining very hard, it was cold
14:53 and while I was running down the court,
14:55 I said, "You know what? This is my last game,
14:57 I'm not going to play anymore. "
14:59 People thought I was crazy
15:01 after I made the decision to walk away at 25...
15:03 but I just... the thrill... was gone...
15:06 and so I decided,
15:07 "You know, there's got to be more in life
15:10 than just playing basketball"
15:11 I mean, I would be at games, I would see some of my teammates
15:15 before the game they would be smoking reefer,
15:17 they would be practicing immorality
15:19 and I wasn't a Christian but I decided...
15:23 I don't want any part of this, so I knew that somebody
15:27 or something was working on me.
15:28 Yeah, yes and so, after you left the league,
15:31 what did you... what did you do?
15:33 Because, I mean, going from the NBA to the regular workforce
15:36 I mean, what job did you take?
15:38 Well, I took a job in Trenton as a supervisor
15:42 training college interns how to get inmates out of jail
15:47 on their own recognizance and I got...
15:50 I received letters from the Team... they're like...
15:53 "If you come back, we'll give you more money,"
15:55 and for me, there was a vacuum
15:58 in my life because that's all I knew,
16:00 basketball was my god,
16:02 I played basketball day and night,
16:05 I knew the shots, I mean, God had blessed me
16:09 and allowed me to be blessed
16:10 to be a very... one of the best players in the Country,
16:13 but the thrill was gone and I just went back to working
16:16 and I was at the Court House one day,
16:20 and this senior citizen lady came up to me,
16:22 she gave me a book, "What Adventists Believe"
16:25 and I'm thinking, "What is this?"
16:27 I took the book... took it home, threw it in the garbage
16:30 and so, as the devil, I'm sure,
16:34 knew that God was pulling me through the Holy Spirit,
16:36 he was out to make sure that that wouldn't happen.
16:39 So, therefore, believe it or not,
16:42 after I came out of professional basketball,
16:45 I was recruited by the Seventh-day Adventist Church
16:49 to play on their basketball team.
16:51 Jason: Wow!
16:52 Sandy: Can you believe that?
16:53 And the thing is, as hard as it is to believe,
16:56 the golden opportunity to witness to me,
16:58 nobody ever gave me a Bible Study,
17:00 I was just there to score points,
17:03 one game... I scored 60, another... 61 and another... 62,
17:07 nobody gave me a Bible Study but you know what?
17:11 God doesn't depend on men or women to win you,
17:15 what He allowed me to do is...
17:18 I started reading the Amazing Facts
17:20 and I read myself into the church
17:22 without having a Bible Study
17:24 from anybody who was a Seventh-day Adventist.
17:25 Wow! it's sad though
17:28 because that was a wasted witnessing opportunity,
17:31 they had the opportunity to witness to you
17:34 but they were focused on other things,
17:37 but thank God for the Holy Spirit
17:40 that convicted your heart
17:41 and led you to studying for yourself...
17:45 Sandy: Amen.
17:46 And so, after joining the church
17:49 you became heavily involved with the church, right?
17:54 Well, once I... all my life...
17:58 my father was in prison most of my life,
18:00 and so, therefore, for me, there was a void,
18:03 no manly guidance or role model and I played for many teams,
18:10 Yeah, God blessed me to score lots of points
18:13 and had a good career but it was a void there...
18:16 because I knew that these coaches were
18:18 just using me just for my athletic abilities
18:22 so when I started reading the Bible,
18:25 I had never read the Bible in my life,
18:28 I didn't know the difference between Genesis and Revelation
18:31 but when I started reading the Bible,
18:33 it was so fascinating to me to be able to think,
18:37 "Man, I can't believe
18:38 the questions that I had were answered,"
18:41 I went through the Bible, Jason, three times from cover to cover
18:45 in less than six months.
18:48 Jason: Three times! in less than six months?
18:51 Sandy: Yes, in less than six months.
18:52 Jason: Wow!
18:54 And my wife... I mean...
18:55 it was almost like I wasn't married
18:57 because all I wanted to do was read the Bible,
19:00 I mean, sometimes, I would be up
19:02 at one or two in the morning reading
19:04 because I couldn't put the Bible down
19:05 and then I found my best friend, I found the coach and the father
19:09 that I had been looking for all my life... Jesus Christ,
19:12 and I never looked back.
19:15 Wow! that is so powerful
19:17 and the fact that you read the Bible
19:20 three times in six months...
19:22 there are people who are trying to do the...
19:24 "Read it through in a year plan" but three times in six months,
19:29 that's a blessing and so, now you have a ministry,
19:33 tell us about your ministry, what's it called
19:36 and the website and what's it all about?
19:41 Well, when I became a Seventh-day Adventist,
19:45 I had people at the church in
19:47 Mount Sinai in Trenton, New Jersey
19:49 who said, "You know, you ought to be a minister,
19:51 you have such a knowledge of the Bible,"
19:53 and so, I wound up going to Oakwood
19:55 and I figured, "If I go to Oakwood,
19:57 I'm going to get a chance to meet
19:59 the presidents of the conferences, et cetera,"
20:02 I sent out letters to all the conferences,
20:05 none answered,
20:06 one answered and said,
20:08 "Well, we appreciate... but we don't have an opening"
20:10 and so I went through years like that and I said,
20:12 "God, you've given me the talent, the abilities,
20:14 but I'm not able to use it,
20:17 give me a ministry that I can use"
20:20 so the Holy Spirit gave me the title:
20:23 Laymen For A Finished Work
20:25 that is... you don't have to be a pastor,
20:27 it's the greatest calling in the world
20:29 but yet, laymen have a work to do,
20:31 so He gave me the title: Laymen For A Finished Work
20:34 which I do, as I go around, I teach and train laymen
20:37 how to witness, how to win souls,
20:39 God has blessed me to travel to 37 countries,
20:43 I've been to all 50 States
20:45 and my job is to train laymen to work
20:49 because we're told that the laymen will help finish the work
20:52 along with the dedicated pastors so, that's my job
20:56 and I look back now, Jason, and I say,
20:58 "You know, God, if you gave me an opening as a pastor,
21:02 I wouldn't want to be a pastor
21:04 because I'm having too much fun and I can... I feel free,
21:07 I don't feel like I have any restrictions on me
21:10 and it's really been a journey to help laymen. "
21:13 You don't want to be confined to one church.
21:15 Sandy: Yes, that's correct.
21:16 Yeah, I hear you, now, I watched another interview with you
21:20 that you actually did on the Parent Network
21:23 and you said something about a shepherd and the sheep,
21:31 unpack that for us.
21:32 Well, the thing is Shepherds are needed
21:36 to tend to the sheep but shepherds don't make sheep.
21:41 Sheep make sheep, so the thing is,
21:44 as a layman, I feel like you're going to be
21:48 probably more affected than when in labor
21:50 because... like what my testimony...
21:51 when people hear my testimony
21:53 they are amazed, it's like, "If God can do that to you,
21:56 He can do that for me"
21:58 as a Pastor, you know, people say,
21:59 "Well, you're getting paid to preach,
22:01 you're getting paid to win souls,
22:03 you're getting paid to say certain things,"
22:05 I'm not being paid by the Conference or anybody,
22:08 I do it because of my love for souls
22:10 and I can remember going to Australia,
22:13 that trip cost me, personally,
22:15 4,000 dollars to go to Australia,
22:18 I preached in Australia, I preached in New Zealand,
22:20 I mean, I've traveled to over 37 countries
22:23 and it's coming out of my pocket and so, therefore,
22:27 I just want to let the laymen know
22:29 that there is a big work that we can do.
22:32 Yeah, absolutely, and there's a work for everyone,
22:35 you know, there is a work for those
22:37 that are pastors in the Conference
22:39 and they're doing a very important job,
22:41 and the laymen are doing a very important job as well,
22:44 we want to see as many people as possible in heaven
22:48 and we want to... and witness to as many people
22:51 as we possibly can,
22:53 so, how do people get you at their church?
22:56 Well, the thing is... I've got a website
22:58 and it will be posted I'm sure before this program goes off.
23:01 Jason: What's your website?
23:03 www. LaymenForAFinishedWork. com
23:08 and if people would like for me to come to their church,
23:11 they can go online to my website and have my e-mail address
23:15 and I'm going to be going... not too long...
23:18 I'm going to be going to Lima, Peru,
23:20 and possibly Chile and Ecuador
23:25 and so, I'm ready to go.
23:27 And so what does it look like when you go to the churches,
23:30 is it a Week of Prayer or is it just case-by-case basis
23:34 like how... what happens?
23:36 Well, I usually leave it up to the churches,
23:37 sometimes I go in and I do a weekend,
23:41 some churches may want me to do a week,
23:44 and also, I'd like to mention,
23:46 Jason, that every week I'm on Facebook
23:49 and YouTube under: Last Day Events Sandy Smith
23:53 so I'm dealing with topics that...
23:56 basically for non-Christian people
23:59 I'm reaching out to the non-Christian people
24:01 especially to our young people.
24:04 Now that's: Last Day Events...
24:06 Sandy: Yes, and it's under Sandy Smith.
24:08 Jason: Under Sandy Smith. Sandy: Hmmm... Hmmm...
24:10 Okay, okay, I just want to make sure the Viewers get that.
24:12 Yes, and I'm dealing with topics that vary...
24:16 I have to be honest with you,
24:18 and I'm not trying to pat myself on the back,
24:20 but I'm dealing with topics
24:21 that I have never heard any ministers deal with,
24:24 the young people, you know
24:26 this is a different generation,
24:27 these young people want you to come straight out...
24:29 tell them the truth,
24:31 they don't want you to be politically correct,
24:34 they want you to just tell like it is.
24:35 Jason: No sugar coating... Sandy: No sugar coating,
24:37 so I deal with topics that none that I've ever heard deal with.
24:41 Hmmm... hmmm... well, I mean, if you just...
24:44 if you turn on the news or you turn on TV
24:47 or television or whatever
24:48 and you listen to the radio or whatever,
24:51 time is running out
24:53 and we don't have time to sugar coat
24:56 and all that stuff, time is running out.
24:58 Well, the thing that I'm finding being...
25:01 coming out of the world...
25:03 and even though now that I'm a Christian...
25:05 but people... they have no idea
25:08 of what's coming on this earth suddenly
25:10 and we've got to be straight up with these people,
25:13 I mean, if you... coming out of the ghetto,
25:15 I know if we go into the ghetto with a lukewarm message,
25:18 the people are not going to listen.
25:19 You've got to just come straight... out with the truth
25:23 and let them know that time is running out
25:25 and if you stay on the track
25:26 that you're on... you're going to be lost.
25:28 Hmmm... hmmm... and I think another important thing is
25:31 to meet people's needs, you know, you have to...
25:34 it's like... you come and you talk to people but
25:37 you have to meet them where they are
25:39 and you have to also meet their needs,
25:41 you know... and that's why I also think that
25:43 like... Pathway to Health...
25:45 I think that is an excellent way to witness to people
25:49 and to minister to people and I mean... it gets media coverage
25:53 and if you look at the Bible,
25:55 that's how Jesus did it... he was healing so many people.
25:59 Sandy: That's right. Jason: So many people...
26:01 Well the thing is when I watch your program,
26:03 I like your program because it deals with people's needs
26:08 and people like myself were not raised in the church
26:11 and so, therefore, you've got to come down on their level
26:15 and like Jesus did, bring them up,
26:18 you don't wallow in the mud with them
26:20 but you give them something to think about... a better life...
26:24 Yes, yes, you know, oh! it just dawned on me too,
26:31 we said your website: LaymenForAFinishedWork. org
26:38 okay... dot org
26:40 Sandy: or dot com either one will work.
26:42 Oh, either one will work, it's interchangeable, okay,
26:45 okay, I have dot org now okay.
26:47 Sandy: Yeah, either one will work.
26:48 Okay, I just want to make sure
26:50 our Viewers are able to get there...
26:51 get you to their churches
26:53 so you can share your powerful testimony with them
26:56 and the congregation as well.
26:59 Well, the thing is...
27:01 I know we're just about out of time...
27:03 God has given me many, many experiences
27:06 and I just don't feel like the church has taken advantage of me
27:09 as much as they should have, I'm ready and willing to go,
27:13 but you got to... got to make the call
27:16 and I'll be more than willing to come out
27:18 and to do what I can for the young people.
27:21 Absolutely... and it's such a blessing
27:24 to share Christ with others. Sandy: Amen.
27:28 And it actually strengthens us
27:30 by sharing Christ with others. Sandy: Amen...
27:32 And so, we definitely appreciate everything you're doing
27:36 and for answering your calling
27:38 and for allowing Christ to use you
27:43 and overcoming all that was in your childhood.
27:47 I just give God the praise
27:49 because there's nothing that I did...
27:51 I just allowed Him to do what He had to do.
27:52 Thank you so much for being here.
27:56 And thank you...
27:58 well, we've reached the end of another program,
28:00 join us next time and remember,
28:01 it just wouldn't be the same without you.


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Revised 2016-05-31