Overdose in Vegas: One Breath from Death | Mark Thomas | 023

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I'm having my third drug
overdose.

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I'm flopping around on my Las
Vegas floor like a fish, having

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grandma seizures.
I was literally one breath away

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from death and at that moment I
thought I was going to die.

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Welcome to When You Look, where
ordinary people share their

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extraordinary experiences and
you get to decide, was it

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coincidence or God?
Mark?

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Welcome to When You Look man,
Excited to have you on the show.

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Thanks a bunch.
Hey, Mick, thank you so much for

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having me, man.
It's an honor and a privilege to

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be here with you right here,
right now, my brother.

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Yeah, man, it's a it's a big day
for sure.

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We got a wonderful story to hear
from you.

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But before we jump into that,
tell our listeners a little bit

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about yourself.
All right, Well, I come from a

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family of four.
You know, I have my mother, my

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father, of course, and I have
one older sister two years older

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than me.
And then you have me family of

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four.
I was born in Charleston, WV.

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Now, Mick, a lot of times people
will look at me and they they're

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like, brother, you don't look
like you're from Charleston, WV.

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OK, but that's where I was born.
And I come from a wonderful

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family.
They weren't a Christian family,

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so they didn't, I didn't know
the anything about God when I

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was growing up in my family.
My family had no idea about the

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Christian principles.
My mom and my father, look, they

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did the best job that they can
do raising me and my sister.

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But my mom, she was a little on
the wild side, you know, and how

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she brought me up was, son, you
live your life like a rock star.

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You party hard and you die
young.

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And she said, Mick, she said to
me, you sow your oats.

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That's a old expression of have
as much sex as you can possibly

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have before you get married,
right?

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And I never plan on getting
married, Mick.

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So I'm thinking this is a
hedonistic lifestyle that I am

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to live and never plan on
getting married.

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And I'm like, man, I think I'm
going to be really good at

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living this type of lifestyle.
I'm like, I think I got this

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unlocked right?
Yeah.

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So, you know, growing up, I was
new right from wrong, you know,

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but I always chose wrong because
that to me was where the party

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was at, you know, and I was just
by nature a crazy, crazy kid.

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He was very curious.
So I, I grew up no godly values,

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no Christian principles to guide
me.

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So I looked at Hollywood, you
know, and my Hollywood heroes

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were in this club called the 27
Club.

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Now, for those of your listeners
who've never heard of the 27

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Club, these were all the rock
stars, all the Hollywood

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celebrities that were dead by
the age of 27.

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All right, rock stars like Jimi
Hendrix, Janis Joplin,

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celebrities that died before the
age of 27.

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I literally thought, Mick, I
literally thought the success to

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life on how my mom raised me and
how my Hollywood heroes were.

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I thought success in life was
you party hard, you make as much

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money as you can, you have as
much sex as a as with as many

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sexual partners have as you can
have, and you party like a rock

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star and you die by the age of
27.

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And that's, that's what my
mission was in life.

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And Mick, I'm going to tell you
I was so good at living.

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I was so, so good at living this
mission out, man.

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So, you know, that's how I grew
up and that that's how I purpose

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my life.
So that was my life mission from

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the time I was a child.
So that's, that's my family.

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That's how I was brought up.
And that's a little bit about my

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childhood, man.
Yeah, wow.

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Well, quite the quite the set of
expectations there from your

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mom, man.
So and like you said, you were

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doing well with that mission.
So well, that's a great amount

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of back story in terms of, you
know, growing up and that type

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of thing.
Let's get into the meat of

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things.
That's a bit of how you grew up.

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Where do things go from there?
So let's Fast forward from a

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childhood that I was sharing
with you to the age of 26.

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I'm living in Richmond, VA.
I'm 26 years old and I'm

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thinking to myself this town is
way too small to sustain my

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party lifestyle.
So what I did, I took a three

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month trip around the country
and it was for one purpose, to

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find a city that would sustain
my party lifestyle.

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It came to almost a close tie
New Orleans or Las Vegas, You

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know, I thought to myself, Las
Vegas is more my style.

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So I moved there and I'm I'm
thinking to myself this this

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city 24 hours a day, seven days
a week.

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I think this could sustain my
party lifestyle, right?

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And Sin City, I'm like that.
That describes my life.

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So I've moved there and I spent
seven years there and Mick, when

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I, when I moved there, you know,
I was always a party animal.

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I was always, you know, I was a
alcoholic at the time.

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I was doing drugs casually.
But man, when I moved to that

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city, I got into the the
lifestyle of celebrities.

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You know, I met some of my
rock'n'roll heroes and just

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connected with them and got
wrapped up into the party

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lifestyle.
I got severely hooked on hard

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drugs and almost died from three
drug overdoses, man.

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I mean, that city and the sinful
lifestyle that I was living, you

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know, nearly killed me, You
know, literally a breath away

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from death, man.
Yeah.

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Wow.
So what were you doing there

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over those seven years?
Things, everything that I was

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doing there is everything that I
shouldn't have been doing in

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life.
So I was involved in the club

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industry, involved in things
that you know, as a Christ

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follower today I, I won't share
that, but I was living.

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If you think of Paul saying that
I'm the chief of all sinners, I

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was that guy involved in
everything he shouldn't be

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involved in.
That's the lifestyle that I was

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living and it's X-rated.
And you know what, I used to go

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in depth about that, but I
choose not to give the devil

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glory.
But I would say this, I was

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doing everything that someone
who's chief purpose in life to

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live a hedonistic lifestyle was
doing as part of my regular

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everyday lifestyle.
Yeah, gotcha.

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Well, we appreciate the the the
clarity on that without all

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those details.
I think people are, you know,

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smart enough to be able to kind
of fill in a lot of those

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blanks.
But it also sounds like you were

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really getting after it because
I presume that you don't meet a

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bunch of celebrities unless you
are really, really in the game

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out there.
You know what I mean?

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Someone who's doing things a
little bit more casually,

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whatever that thing might be,
is, is certainly not going to

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rise to the top of that
particular field.

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So, yeah, we fully, fully track
with you on that.

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Well, tell us though a little
bit about the progression or

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maybe the slide downward because
you talked about, you know,

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three different drug overdoses
and you know, fill in some of

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the blanks there for us.
Yeah, absolutely.

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So this is the part of my
testimony I really like to focus

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on.
You know, before I would focus a

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little too much on the sinful
lifestyle.

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And I felt like I was glorifying
that and not glorifying our

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Father in heaven enough.
So I'm living in Las Vegas,

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living a part of the lifestyle
wrapped up into the drug scene.

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And I experienced my first drug
overdose, you know, and right

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about that time, you know, I
shared in the opening of the

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podcast that I had this vision
of what success was.

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You know, now think about this.
A young man with all his

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perverted, selfish,
self-centered dreams had a dream

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of everything that I wanted to
accomplish.

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Made his made more, much more
money than I ever thought I

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would make, had more sexual
encounters than I ever dreamt

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possible.
Had more material possessions

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that I ever had dreamed of.
And I remember one day right

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before my first drug overdose,
I'm on my Las Vegas balcony deck

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in the front yard was the Las
Vegas Blvd. with all the hotels.

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You could picture this like
everyone who's watching or

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listening now, they could
picture the Las Vegas Blvd.

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And I remember thinking this.
I remember thinking, man, I've

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achieved everything that a
young, perverted young man can

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dream of achieving, but yet man,
I had this void in my heart.

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I couldn't figure it out.
And I thought to myself, if this

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is good as it gets, why am I so
empty and why do I not want to

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live anymore, you know?
So I started doing drugs even

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more and this is my plan, man.
We'll talk about people have

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suicidal ideations and how the
devil could attack people

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through that.
That's a real thing, right?

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And I thought to myself, I don't
want to live anymore because if

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I can't be happy living at the
pittacle of success, you know

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what the world teaches as
success, then I'll never be

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happy.
And there's no point in living.

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I didn't know anything about God
or eternal life after death.

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So you know, when someone you,
you don't know what you don't

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know.
And I didn't know, I had no

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thoughts about eternity.
So I said, you know what, I want

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to die and I'm going to use
drugs to make it look like I

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party so hard that I've died
just from living that excessive

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party lifestyle.
So that was my new mission.

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I started consuming drugs at a
pace that you would not believe,

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man.
And I slowly started dying away.

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I had my first drug overdose.
I had my second drug overdose at

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that time, Mick.
I'm a short man, I'm 5 foot 3,

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but at the time I was barely 65
lbs, skin and bones, emaciating.

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The drugs just totally ate away
my body and I was barely living.

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But something happened to me,
Mick, when I had that second

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drug overdose.
Now, at this time, everyone that

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was around me when I had all the
money and I was a center of that

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party lifestyle, they were all
there.

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But at this time, during my
circuit, second drug overdose,

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man, I'm losing everything.
You know, I don't have money.

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So, you know, I noticed one
thing.

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Those people that were always
around me, they weren't my

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friends.
They moved on to the next party.

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You know, I found myself to be
alone and I realized I have no

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true friends.
You know, these people were just

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using me to live that life, that
party lifestyle.

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And then, you know, I don't know
about you, Mick, but as a young

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man, just like I think a lot of
men or young boys are, they're

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fearless, bro, Fearless.
Nothing scared me.

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I was fearless.
But when I had my second drug

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overdose, you know, and I lived
through that, I became so

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fearful of dying, but yet my
mission was to kill myself.

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Strange dichotomy.
I couldn't figure it out, but

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something was happening in me
that I never experienced.

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I thought to myself, man, I
think there's something after

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this life, Nick.
I have never thought like that

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before.
I started thinking about

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eternity and I started thinking
if if heaven's real, I'm not

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going there.
If Hell's real, I'm headed there

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and I deserve to go there.
I didn't know.

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I mean, I didn't know anything
about eternity.

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I didn't know anything about
heaven.

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I didn't know anything about
hell, but I knew that I did not

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want to die without knowing the
truth, you know.

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So out on that same Las Vegas
balcony deck, I said a prayer,

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the first prayer of my life with
fear and a trepidation of, of

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dying.
And I looked up to the sky and I

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said, God, if you're real, show
me because I'm getting ready to

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die and I am scared to death.
That was it.

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That was my one prayer that I've
ever said.

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And that that was the extent of
the prayer.

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And the very next day, Mick, you
want to, you want to know how I

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first believed that God was
real.

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The very next day someone came
up to me.

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They started sharing the gospel
message with me.

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They told me that Jesus loved
me, told me that Jesus would

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change my life because it was
quite obvious, my brother, that

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I was a drugged out drug addict
getting ready to die.

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I mean, it was obvious.
And they would come up to me.

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And these were people that did
not know me, total strangers.

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And when they were approached
me, man, they would have this

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kind of light around them and I
could see their love and their

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genuine concern for me.
And I thought to myself, and

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00:14:36,000 --> 00:14:40,640
number one, I just prayed asking
God to show me if he's real,

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00:14:41,320 --> 00:14:44,440
show me.
And the next day, these people

224
00:14:44,440 --> 00:14:47,160
were coming up to me.
Look, I had absolutely no doubt,

225
00:14:47,160 --> 00:14:51,360
my brother, that God was real
and he was sending these people

226
00:14:51,360 --> 00:14:53,000
to me.
And was it just one person?

227
00:14:53,200 --> 00:14:56,840
It was multiple people
throughout that week and they

228
00:14:56,840 --> 00:14:58,920
would come up with me.
They would come up to me and

229
00:14:58,920 --> 00:15:02,680
they would pray with me.
They would share the gospel of

230
00:15:02,680 --> 00:15:05,160
Jesus Christ with me.
And I was hungry to learn.

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00:15:05,880 --> 00:15:09,480
You know, they would come up to
me and ask me, Hey, what happens

232
00:15:09,480 --> 00:15:12,040
to you if you, if you die?
Looks like you're getting ready

233
00:15:12,040 --> 00:15:15,120
to die any moment.
What do you think is going to

234
00:15:15,120 --> 00:15:18,520
happen to you?
And you know, I told them I, I

235
00:15:18,520 --> 00:15:21,760
don't know, but these thoughts
have been consuming my mind.

236
00:15:22,640 --> 00:15:25,520
You know, they said, well,
there's a heaven, there's a

237
00:15:25,520 --> 00:15:28,320
hell.
And I would tell them, I am so

238
00:15:28,320 --> 00:15:31,200
fearful of dying because I feel
like I'm going to go to hell.

239
00:15:31,840 --> 00:15:34,400
They told me that Jesus loves me
right where I'm at.

240
00:15:34,400 --> 00:15:37,240
And, and I would, I would ask
some questions and I would make

241
00:15:37,240 --> 00:15:43,200
comments like there's no way
Jesus, if he's real, would love

242
00:15:43,200 --> 00:15:46,440
someone like me.
Look at me, I am a Sinner to the

243
00:15:46,440 --> 00:15:49,800
core.
If you only knew my life, you

244
00:15:49,800 --> 00:15:52,360
know, I don't think Jesus would
ever love me.

245
00:15:52,360 --> 00:15:54,120
And they would share the truth
with me.

246
00:15:54,520 --> 00:15:57,360
No, no, you see, Jesus came
especially for you.

247
00:15:58,120 --> 00:16:02,400
You know, he died.
He gave his life to save your

248
00:16:02,400 --> 00:16:06,040
life and give you a new life.
And, and I would tell them, man,

249
00:16:06,040 --> 00:16:09,560
I would say, hey, I've never not
been able to do something in my

250
00:16:09,560 --> 00:16:11,640
life.
Anything I put my mind to.

251
00:16:11,640 --> 00:16:15,320
I've had success, but I can't
quit these drugs.

252
00:16:15,400 --> 00:16:17,640
I'm addicted and I'm going to
die out here.

253
00:16:17,920 --> 00:16:21,240
And they would tell me, Jesus
will give you the power to

254
00:16:21,240 --> 00:16:25,040
overcome that drug, drug
addiction, you know, so multiple

255
00:16:25,040 --> 00:16:29,520
people, people would come up to
me, share the gospel, the good

256
00:16:29,520 --> 00:16:33,360
news man of salvation that only
Jesus offers.

257
00:16:33,720 --> 00:16:38,960
And I would ask these questions.
And I heard the gospel and

258
00:16:38,960 --> 00:16:41,280
snippets from all these
different people that God was

259
00:16:41,280 --> 00:16:44,160
sending to me.
And man, I just remembered, I

260
00:16:44,160 --> 00:16:47,480
remember their love and their
concern.

261
00:16:47,720 --> 00:16:52,400
And I knew it wasn't of this
world, you know, I knew that

262
00:16:52,720 --> 00:16:57,080
they had to be people of God,
children of God.

263
00:16:57,400 --> 00:17:00,720
And I'm like, man, they have
something that I, I didn't even

264
00:17:00,720 --> 00:17:06,599
know existed that I wanted.
And so multiple people came up

265
00:17:06,599 --> 00:17:08,040
to me.
So I believe God was real

266
00:17:08,040 --> 00:17:10,720
because I prayed that prayer and
he sent multiple people to me.

267
00:17:11,440 --> 00:17:15,440
All right.
And so I heard gospel, the

268
00:17:15,440 --> 00:17:20,720
gospel message from these people
and snippets, and that that was

269
00:17:21,640 --> 00:17:26,800
after my second drug overdose.
Now, I never carried drugs on my

270
00:17:26,800 --> 00:17:31,600
person ever.
As a drug user, I would have

271
00:17:31,600 --> 00:17:34,720
people carry it for me.
That way if anyone got busted,

272
00:17:34,720 --> 00:17:36,520
it would be them, not me.
All right, I always have a

273
00:17:36,520 --> 00:17:41,760
strategy of what I was doing.
This one time, This one time I

274
00:17:41,760 --> 00:17:45,400
had drugs on me.
Very little bit about the drugs

275
00:17:45,560 --> 00:17:48,880
was crystal meth, but it was
enough to land me in prison.

276
00:17:49,600 --> 00:17:53,520
I decided to walk from my home
to the convenience stores a

277
00:17:53,520 --> 00:17:55,080
couple blocks from where I
lived.

278
00:17:55,560 --> 00:17:59,120
It's Tropicana and Decatur Blvd.
is where I live.

279
00:17:59,720 --> 00:18:03,720
And as I walked to the store,
Las Vegas Metropolitan Police

280
00:18:03,720 --> 00:18:07,360
officer, he pulled his car over,
got out the car and I'm like

281
00:18:07,360 --> 00:18:09,880
this is great.
But one time I carried drugs on

282
00:18:09,880 --> 00:18:12,400
me.
I get pulled over by a police

283
00:18:12,400 --> 00:18:15,320
officer.
Now, I had been pulled over many

284
00:18:15,320 --> 00:18:18,320
times before by a police
officer, but this is the one

285
00:18:18,320 --> 00:18:21,600
time that I had drugs on me.
This man comes up to me.

286
00:18:21,600 --> 00:18:24,520
This is a Las Vegas Metropolitan
Police officer.

287
00:18:24,840 --> 00:18:26,640
He comes up to me and he asked
me a question.

288
00:18:26,640 --> 00:18:28,800
Do you have any drugs on you?
You know what, man?

289
00:18:29,520 --> 00:18:31,600
I just said yes.
I didn't try to lie.

290
00:18:31,600 --> 00:18:34,680
I just admitted it to him
because, you know, I'm getting

291
00:18:34,680 --> 00:18:36,720
ready to die.
You know what does it matter if

292
00:18:36,720 --> 00:18:39,360
I if I go to prison?
I said, yeah, I've got this

293
00:18:39,360 --> 00:18:41,520
little bit of meth on me.
I gave him the bag.

294
00:18:41,520 --> 00:18:44,080
You know what this guy does?
I know this goes against

295
00:18:44,080 --> 00:18:46,280
protocol.
He takes the bag.

296
00:18:46,280 --> 00:18:49,360
He opens it and again, it was a
little amount, but enough that

297
00:18:49,360 --> 00:18:50,880
I, I should have gone to prison
for.

298
00:18:51,520 --> 00:18:58,160
He dumps it out and he says this
to me, Mick, he says, man, I've

299
00:18:58,160 --> 00:19:01,520
been watching you and I know the
lifestyle that you live.

300
00:19:02,280 --> 00:19:04,560
I see you're you're you're close
to death.

301
00:19:04,560 --> 00:19:05,960
He said, let me tell you
something, man.

302
00:19:06,600 --> 00:19:11,360
He said this town does one of
two things to people.

303
00:19:11,360 --> 00:19:14,920
I see it all the time.
He says you're either going to

304
00:19:14,920 --> 00:19:17,040
die out here or you're going to
end up in prison.

305
00:19:17,040 --> 00:19:19,280
And he said, I could tell by
observing your physical

306
00:19:19,280 --> 00:19:23,000
condition that you're going to
die before you end up in prison.

307
00:19:23,440 --> 00:19:27,240
He says, get into my Las Vegas
Metropolitan Police car.

308
00:19:27,240 --> 00:19:27,840
Hey, Mick.
I'm.

309
00:19:27,840 --> 00:19:30,600
I'll be honest with you, man.
That's the last place I wanted

310
00:19:30,600 --> 00:19:32,840
to be.
It's out of a police officer's

311
00:19:32,840 --> 00:19:35,560
car.
Yeah, I got in the car.

312
00:19:36,920 --> 00:19:39,400
And he says there's something
different about you.

313
00:19:40,320 --> 00:19:42,040
He starts speaking life into me,
man.

314
00:19:43,120 --> 00:19:45,360
He said.
There's something I want you to

315
00:19:45,360 --> 00:19:50,760
know.
He says God loves you and God

316
00:19:50,760 --> 00:19:54,280
has a plan for you.
He said.

317
00:19:54,800 --> 00:19:59,960
God says, for I know he told me.
He said this is a promise to you

318
00:20:00,240 --> 00:20:01,960
if you believe it and you accept
it.

319
00:20:02,240 --> 00:20:06,080
He said God says, For I know the
thoughts that I think towards

320
00:20:06,080 --> 00:20:10,960
you, and I know the plans that I
have for you, thoughts of peace

321
00:20:11,200 --> 00:20:15,160
and not of evil.
To give you a hope in the

322
00:20:15,160 --> 00:20:20,440
future, he said, young man, he
said, I'm going to share the

323
00:20:20,440 --> 00:20:25,520
gospel with you because I want
you to have the opportunity to

324
00:20:25,520 --> 00:20:29,280
know who Jesus is and how you
can accept him into your life.

325
00:20:29,880 --> 00:20:35,080
Now keep in mind, this was after
the multiple encounters of

326
00:20:35,080 --> 00:20:38,280
hearing the gospel message and
snippets from different people.

327
00:20:38,960 --> 00:20:42,640
I'm sitting in his police
officer's car.

328
00:20:42,920 --> 00:20:46,760
He shares the gospel concisely
with me.

329
00:20:46,760 --> 00:20:48,840
And then everything connected in
that moment.

330
00:20:50,480 --> 00:20:54,120
It made sense and I believed it.
I believed it.

331
00:20:54,120 --> 00:20:58,280
Now, I didn't accept Christ
until my life at that point, but

332
00:20:58,280 --> 00:21:03,440
I believe it.
You know, I had belief in the

333
00:21:03,440 --> 00:21:06,520
gospel message.
He took me to a place to get me

334
00:21:06,520 --> 00:21:11,800
help and my intention was to go
in there and to, to, to get

335
00:21:11,800 --> 00:21:14,480
help.
I checked in 20 minutes later.

336
00:21:14,480 --> 00:21:17,320
I'm like, man, you know what?
With a drug addict, with an

337
00:21:17,320 --> 00:21:20,440
alcoholic, with any addiction
that people are facing and you

338
00:21:20,440 --> 00:21:23,920
have viewers watching or people
listening right now, they're in

339
00:21:23,920 --> 00:21:26,200
addiction and they know what I'm
talking about.

340
00:21:26,360 --> 00:21:33,320
It's always just one more time.
Always just I'll do drugs one

341
00:21:33,320 --> 00:21:36,920
more time or I'll get involved
in that addiction one more time

342
00:21:36,920 --> 00:21:39,800
and then I'll quit.
It's to lie the enemy.

343
00:21:39,800 --> 00:21:43,280
So 20 minutes after checking in
this place, I'm like, man, I'm

344
00:21:43,280 --> 00:21:47,200
just going to do drugs one more
time and then I'm going to get

345
00:21:47,200 --> 00:21:51,720
help.
So I left, I went back to my

346
00:21:51,720 --> 00:21:55,720
place.
I did drugs one more time.

347
00:21:55,880 --> 00:22:01,760
I had my third drug overdose and
that third drug overdose, I fell

348
00:22:01,760 --> 00:22:05,120
to the floor.
I'm having a my third drug

349
00:22:05,120 --> 00:22:07,720
overdose.
I'm flopping around on my Las

350
00:22:07,720 --> 00:22:11,560
Vegas floor, living room floor
like a fish, having grandma

351
00:22:11,560 --> 00:22:18,600
seizures for three days.
It was day, it was night, it was

352
00:22:18,600 --> 00:22:20,440
day.
It was night.

353
00:22:21,120 --> 00:22:23,760
It was day and it was night,
Mick.

354
00:22:24,320 --> 00:22:27,720
I was literally one breath away
from death.

355
00:22:28,560 --> 00:22:30,640
And at that moment I thought I
was going to die.

356
00:22:31,240 --> 00:22:36,720
And I said, Jesus, forgive me of
my sins.

357
00:22:36,840 --> 00:22:42,680
I have never been more sincere
in my entire life.

358
00:22:42,680 --> 00:22:47,200
And Mick, when I said that my
intention was I, I literally

359
00:22:47,200 --> 00:22:51,360
thought I was going to die.
And I thought before I took my

360
00:22:51,360 --> 00:22:56,320
last breath that I would accept
Christ into my my life as my

361
00:22:56,320 --> 00:22:58,000
savior.
And you know, it's a deathbed

362
00:22:58,000 --> 00:23:01,160
confession, right?
You, you hear of deathbed

363
00:23:01,160 --> 00:23:03,040
confessions, I thought that was
going to be it.

364
00:23:03,600 --> 00:23:07,240
I'll tell you, man, when and
when, when I was asking God to

365
00:23:07,240 --> 00:23:12,200
forgive me, I realized in that
moment, man, and I don't know

366
00:23:12,200 --> 00:23:14,160
why this happened.
I think God did this.

367
00:23:14,160 --> 00:23:17,840
He gave it to me as a vision.
But as I am asking Jesus to

368
00:23:17,840 --> 00:23:21,880
forgive me of my sins, I had
this vision of the Washington

369
00:23:21,880 --> 00:23:24,640
Monument.
Think about the Washington

370
00:23:24,640 --> 00:23:30,280
Monument at the very top.
It had all my sins all the way

371
00:23:30,280 --> 00:23:32,120
to the bottom of the Washington
Monument.

372
00:23:32,120 --> 00:23:35,920
And in the instant I realized
something, all the devastation I

373
00:23:35,920 --> 00:23:40,480
caused in people's lives, my
family, all the people that I

374
00:23:40,480 --> 00:23:46,200
hurt, I realized that I wasn't
just hurting myself, but I hurt

375
00:23:46,200 --> 00:23:48,920
everyone and I destroyed
everyone who loved me.

376
00:23:49,000 --> 00:23:51,920
Life as I was wasting away an
addiction.

377
00:23:52,640 --> 00:23:57,120
And when I said that prayer,
Mick, I was so sincere and I

378
00:23:57,120 --> 00:24:01,120
sincerely wanted to be forgiven,
not not just to get in to

379
00:24:01,120 --> 00:24:06,160
heaven, but just to be forgiven
of all the wrong, all the sins

380
00:24:06,160 --> 00:24:09,640
that I've done in my life.
When I said that prayer, MIT

381
00:24:10,560 --> 00:24:15,680
after three days, three nights
flopping around on my living

382
00:24:15,680 --> 00:24:18,280
room floor like a fish.
I mean, you're talking about

383
00:24:18,280 --> 00:24:22,040
excruciating pain that I felt
every second of that time period

384
00:24:23,280 --> 00:24:29,400
when I said that prayer, MIT in
an instant, I stopped the

385
00:24:29,400 --> 00:24:35,200
seizure stopped.
In an instant, I lay peacefully.

386
00:24:35,200 --> 00:24:40,080
In an instant I had overwhelming
peace, man.

387
00:24:41,000 --> 00:24:45,680
In an instant, I felt cleansed
from the inside.

388
00:24:46,280 --> 00:24:49,680
And in an instant, after saying
that prayer, accepting Christ

389
00:24:49,680 --> 00:24:58,920
into my my life, I felt born
again in, in an instant, Mick, I

390
00:24:58,920 --> 00:25:04,440
knew that God was real.
I knew that Jesus saves.

391
00:25:04,840 --> 00:25:08,120
I knew that Jesus transforms
right.

392
00:25:08,280 --> 00:25:11,280
And I knew that something was
different.

393
00:25:12,600 --> 00:25:15,640
I laid there.
I have never been so more joyful

394
00:25:15,640 --> 00:25:18,840
in my life.
Filthy dirty.

395
00:25:18,840 --> 00:25:21,600
I hadn't taken a shower in weeks
before that.

396
00:25:22,240 --> 00:25:25,520
Laying on the ground, having
that third drug overdose and

397
00:25:25,520 --> 00:25:29,200
this probably gross some of your
audience out and look, it's

398
00:25:29,200 --> 00:25:31,360
just, it's just part of my
testimony.

399
00:25:31,360 --> 00:25:34,800
Laying, flopping around like a
fish, having grandma seizures,

400
00:25:34,800 --> 00:25:38,800
my third drug overdose,
completely dirty.

401
00:25:39,280 --> 00:25:42,040
You could imagine what the body
was doing the entire time.

402
00:25:42,320 --> 00:25:44,880
Filthy.
I was a mess, but I felt so

403
00:25:45,040 --> 00:25:49,520
clean on the inside.
Man, it took a couple of hours

404
00:25:49,520 --> 00:25:51,120
before I could physically get
up.

405
00:25:52,720 --> 00:25:57,120
And I slowly got up.
I walked into the bathroom and I

406
00:25:57,120 --> 00:25:59,640
looked in the mirror.
Man, I was mad at Mick.

407
00:25:59,640 --> 00:26:02,160
I was messed up, brother.
I was messed up.

408
00:26:03,000 --> 00:26:06,360
Skin and bones, emaciate, and my
face was sunk in.

409
00:26:07,560 --> 00:26:10,680
I just felt like I wanted to get
my, my body clean.

410
00:26:10,680 --> 00:26:14,480
I, I started cleansing my body
and cleansing my hands and man,

411
00:26:14,480 --> 00:26:17,800
I saw that filth, you know,
going into my white sink.

412
00:26:18,400 --> 00:26:22,520
Yeah, as I'm washing my body off
and I'm like, man, you know

413
00:26:22,520 --> 00:26:24,440
what?
That's what I felt like happened

414
00:26:24,440 --> 00:26:27,280
on the inside of me, you know,
just like I'm cleansing this

415
00:26:27,280 --> 00:26:30,440
filth off of my body.
I'm like, that's that's what

416
00:26:30,440 --> 00:26:32,480
happened.
You know, when I said that

417
00:26:32,480 --> 00:26:35,800
prayer, keep in mind I I didn't
know anything more about.

418
00:26:36,080 --> 00:26:39,120
I just said the prayer and I'm.
I'm changed, man.

419
00:26:39,120 --> 00:26:43,920
I looked in the mirror, Mick.
As jacked up, as messed up as I

420
00:26:43,920 --> 00:26:46,360
was, skin and bones, face
emaciated.

421
00:26:46,920 --> 00:26:48,880
I looked in the mirror, man.
And for the first time, I'm

422
00:26:48,880 --> 00:26:54,640
like, man, I, I like that guy.
And that I looked and I said,

423
00:26:54,640 --> 00:26:59,200
man, I love, I love myself.
And I knew something was totally

424
00:26:59,200 --> 00:27:01,160
different because Mick, I never
loved myself.

425
00:27:01,160 --> 00:27:04,320
I never liked myself.
I detested myself.

426
00:27:04,920 --> 00:27:08,480
But in that moment, God gave me
love for him.

427
00:27:08,480 --> 00:27:12,600
He gave me love for myself.
And I knew that he was real.

428
00:27:13,200 --> 00:27:16,600
And I knew that something was
different.

429
00:27:17,640 --> 00:27:24,720
And I'm walking around slowly,
pacing throughout my Las Vegas

430
00:27:24,720 --> 00:27:29,720
living room floor, man, and all
I can say is God, you're real,

431
00:27:31,200 --> 00:27:35,840
God, you're real.
And that's all I can say.

432
00:27:36,240 --> 00:27:42,880
I knew 100% that God was real.
Now I had this compulsion to

433
00:27:42,880 --> 00:27:46,840
turn on the TV.
I've never been ATV watcher, you

434
00:27:46,840 --> 00:27:51,400
know, I sure I I certainly
wasn't watching TV out there in

435
00:27:51,400 --> 00:27:53,640
Las Vegas.
I was doing a lot more

436
00:27:53,640 --> 00:27:55,960
entertaining things than
watching TV.

437
00:27:56,640 --> 00:27:59,760
Didn't have time to fit TV in my
schedule out there, right?

438
00:28:00,480 --> 00:28:02,800
The man had this compulsion to
grab the remote.

439
00:28:04,280 --> 00:28:08,360
I grabbed the remote.
I turned on the TVI see

440
00:28:08,360 --> 00:28:12,280
something, man.
I see a plane flying into a

441
00:28:12,280 --> 00:28:15,360
building.
I see an explosion now I'm

442
00:28:15,360 --> 00:28:18,320
thinking to myself, man, I know
I am messed up, but I believe

443
00:28:18,320 --> 00:28:21,160
what I just saw on that screen
really happened.

444
00:28:21,960 --> 00:28:27,000
Mick.
It was on 9/11, 24 years ago.

445
00:28:27,000 --> 00:28:31,000
On 9/11 is the day I gave my
life to Christ.

446
00:28:31,200 --> 00:28:35,120
Today is my salvation birthday,
my brother.

447
00:28:36,280 --> 00:28:40,720
Yeah, praise God.
Yeah, and when I looked at that

448
00:28:40,720 --> 00:28:43,720
plane flying to the tower, I'm
telling you, Mick, my whole, my

449
00:28:43,720 --> 00:28:48,720
whole way of thinking change, I
started thinking these people

450
00:28:49,160 --> 00:28:50,680
are where they're supposed to
be.

451
00:28:50,680 --> 00:28:53,840
They're at work, they're being
responsible.

452
00:28:54,320 --> 00:28:59,240
They have families, they have
children, they have spouses.

453
00:29:00,080 --> 00:29:03,320
They're going to die.
I should have been dead.

454
00:29:04,120 --> 00:29:07,880
Why do I get to live?
And they they they don't have a

455
00:29:07,880 --> 00:29:10,840
choice of going to Paris.
They're going to die now.

456
00:29:10,840 --> 00:29:13,920
I've never heard the audible
voice of God.

457
00:29:14,600 --> 00:29:16,880
Some people have.
I never have.

458
00:29:17,240 --> 00:29:19,640
I want to.
Maybe it'll happen.

459
00:29:20,440 --> 00:29:21,840
I'll welcome.
I'll welcome that.

460
00:29:22,400 --> 00:29:25,480
But I'll tell you what.
When I watched that man, when I

461
00:29:25,480 --> 00:29:29,440
watched those planes flying to
the towers, I got this

462
00:29:29,440 --> 00:29:35,480
overwhelming sense of purpose.
I felt like God saved my life to

463
00:29:35,480 --> 00:29:38,400
be one of the people that he
brought in my life.

464
00:29:38,560 --> 00:29:43,040
When I prayed saying, God, if
you will show me, I said, God, I

465
00:29:43,040 --> 00:29:48,520
dedicate my life to the purpose
that you're calling me to and I

466
00:29:48,520 --> 00:29:54,120
will pursue you harder than I
pursued that party lifestyle or

467
00:29:54,160 --> 00:29:57,080
anything that I've ever tried to
achieve my in my life.

468
00:29:57,360 --> 00:29:59,640
And I, I said to myself, I have
myself.

469
00:29:59,640 --> 00:30:03,600
I said I have no clue what that
means, but I will discover the

470
00:30:03,600 --> 00:30:06,240
plans that you have for me and
Mick.

471
00:30:06,560 --> 00:30:12,200
I've been doing that every day
since 9/11, 24 years ago.

472
00:30:12,600 --> 00:30:17,360
And man, I just want God to
continue to use me to reach

473
00:30:17,360 --> 00:30:22,880
people that don't know Him, who
would never step inside of a

474
00:30:22,880 --> 00:30:25,120
church.
Someone like me, man.

475
00:30:26,040 --> 00:30:27,600
Yeah.
And that's what I've been doing.

476
00:30:27,600 --> 00:30:31,000
I've been serving the Lord
non-stop since that day, 9/11,

477
00:30:31,000 --> 00:30:34,080
24 years ago.
That's who I am.

478
00:30:34,320 --> 00:30:40,320
That's my purpose and that's
what God saved me for and I do

479
00:30:40,320 --> 00:30:45,520
that every single day.
My my mission is to go and as I

480
00:30:45,520 --> 00:30:52,240
am going to make disciples,
sharing Jesus Christ with the

481
00:30:52,240 --> 00:30:55,720
world and that's my life today.
That's what I'm committed to.

482
00:30:56,360 --> 00:31:02,440
And again, man, I'm celebrating
today, 24 years of my salvation.

483
00:31:02,640 --> 00:31:09,240
And man, I got to tell you that
God will use someone like me by

484
00:31:09,240 --> 00:31:12,480
His grace to reach other people
for him.

485
00:31:12,920 --> 00:31:15,320
I stand in awe that God has
chosen me.

486
00:31:15,320 --> 00:31:20,320
I stand at awe how God chooses
his children to get His message

487
00:31:20,320 --> 00:31:23,360
out to the world.
And I'm completely sold out for

488
00:31:23,360 --> 00:31:26,640
Jesus.
I'm completely dedicated to

489
00:31:26,640 --> 00:31:28,680
getting His love out to the
world.

490
00:31:28,680 --> 00:31:30,480
You know what, man?
Because people don't know what

491
00:31:30,480 --> 00:31:32,640
they don't know.
There's a void inside of people

492
00:31:32,840 --> 00:31:36,120
and they're looking for Jesus.
People are hungry for the truth.

493
00:31:36,720 --> 00:31:41,960
And I'm just someone who goes
out and I, I share that truth as

494
00:31:41,960 --> 00:31:45,040
often as I can with as many
people as I can, man.

495
00:31:45,040 --> 00:31:49,800
So I'm so thankful to, to, to
Jesus Christ for how he's

496
00:31:50,040 --> 00:31:53,720
transformed my life and how he's
using me to reach people for

497
00:31:53,720 --> 00:31:56,960
him.
And I have the saying I live to

498
00:31:56,960 --> 00:32:00,760
tell what Jesus died and
resurrected to say.

499
00:32:00,760 --> 00:32:05,160
That's my life now, man.
Yeah, that's great, Mark.

500
00:32:05,360 --> 00:32:07,840
Wow.
Thanks, man.

501
00:32:08,280 --> 00:32:11,360
Yeah, absolutely.
Praise God, Mark.

502
00:32:11,920 --> 00:32:15,600
Praise God.
Wow.

503
00:32:16,880 --> 00:32:19,880
Well, let's color this in a
little bit more.

504
00:32:19,880 --> 00:32:22,680
And you've already done an
amazing job, but you have

505
00:32:23,000 --> 00:32:29,200
essentially your incredible
moment of desperation and you.

506
00:32:29,200 --> 00:32:31,720
Pray and ultimately.
You accept Jesus into your heart

507
00:32:32,040 --> 00:32:35,960
at that moment, all of the
seizing that have been going on

508
00:32:35,960 --> 00:32:40,600
for three days and three nights
stops and you truly feel and

509
00:32:40,600 --> 00:32:47,080
experience the born again in
your life internally.

510
00:32:48,240 --> 00:32:54,040
But up to that point, you are
quite literally decades worth of

511
00:32:54,040 --> 00:32:59,480
alcoholism, years worth of drug
addiction.

512
00:33:00,760 --> 00:33:06,320
What happened to those
addictions from that moment and

513
00:33:06,320 --> 00:33:09,120
beyond?
Hey, I love that question.

514
00:33:10,080 --> 00:33:13,680
I love that question.
The first thing I did, man,

515
00:33:13,680 --> 00:33:17,120
after getting saved is I called
someone back in Virginia, the

516
00:33:17,120 --> 00:33:24,200
only person that I knew that
that knew God and went to church

517
00:33:24,680 --> 00:33:29,240
and he used to try to witness to
me and I wouldn't hear it, but I

518
00:33:29,240 --> 00:33:31,840
called him and I said, man, I
just gave my, I gave him the

519
00:33:31,840 --> 00:33:35,360
story, my testimony and I said,
man, I just got saved.

520
00:33:36,080 --> 00:33:38,560
You know, I said God's real and
I got to start preaching right

521
00:33:38,560 --> 00:33:40,120
away.
He's like, bro, well I've been

522
00:33:40,120 --> 00:33:42,520
trying to tell you that, but you
wasn't listening.

523
00:33:43,960 --> 00:33:45,600
So the first thing I did, I said
man.

524
00:33:45,600 --> 00:33:48,440
Look, 911, it just happened, so
it's not like I could hop on a

525
00:33:48,440 --> 00:33:53,800
plane and come back home.
I said pray with me, pray with.

526
00:33:53,800 --> 00:33:55,640
Me, I would talk to him.
Every single day.

527
00:33:55,640 --> 00:33:58,440
And I would, I would request
that he would pray with me.

528
00:33:58,720 --> 00:34:01,320
And I wanted to have a sense of
accountability.

529
00:34:01,840 --> 00:34:04,360
And I knew if I didn't get out
of that city as soon as

530
00:34:04,360 --> 00:34:08,639
possible, as soon as air, air
traffic, you know, returned back

531
00:34:08,639 --> 00:34:12,480
to normal, I, I knew I would get
back and do drugs again.

532
00:34:13,520 --> 00:34:19,920
So I just called people to hold
me accountable, and I eventually

533
00:34:19,920 --> 00:34:25,280
came home once, you know, once
the air travel became somewhat

534
00:34:25,280 --> 00:34:28,360
normal.
And, you know, those stories,

535
00:34:28,360 --> 00:34:31,239
ma'am, when people get saved,
they get totally delivered from

536
00:34:31,239 --> 00:34:33,080
drugs.
Yeah.

537
00:34:33,280 --> 00:34:36,679
That wasn't my story, brother.
That was not my story.

538
00:34:37,239 --> 00:34:40,199
God delivered me from those
drugs instantly.

539
00:34:40,880 --> 00:34:44,800
And I started doing those drugs
less and less and less.

540
00:34:45,520 --> 00:34:47,560
All right.
When I got back home, I took

541
00:34:47,560 --> 00:34:49,639
three months.
I was in the worst physical

542
00:34:49,639 --> 00:34:55,040
shape that you could ever think
of and I went back home to my

543
00:34:55,040 --> 00:34:58,440
mother and father because I
didn't trust myself and I knew

544
00:34:58,440 --> 00:35:03,200
that they would hold me
accountable and I wanted that

545
00:35:03,200 --> 00:35:06,080
accountability.
So think of a 31 year old man

546
00:35:06,080 --> 00:35:09,960
going back to his mom and dad's
OK, That was my safe place.

547
00:35:10,240 --> 00:35:13,640
The prodigal was going back to
his mommy and his daddy.

548
00:35:13,840 --> 00:35:16,480
Three months I didn't leave the
house.

549
00:35:16,920 --> 00:35:21,680
Three months I nursed myself
back to health and that was my

550
00:35:21,680 --> 00:35:25,640
protection from any drug use,
alcohol use.

551
00:35:25,960 --> 00:35:29,080
My parents helped me guard
against that.

552
00:35:30,000 --> 00:35:31,680
I remember Mick, I went to the
doctor.

553
00:35:31,680 --> 00:35:34,040
I remember my father.
I was like a 31 year old.

554
00:35:34,040 --> 00:35:35,560
I mean, I was like a little kid,
man.

555
00:35:35,560 --> 00:35:39,360
It's like my, my, my dad taken
me to the doctors, man.

556
00:35:39,360 --> 00:35:43,000
I had a list, a list of physical
ailments, but I started reading

557
00:35:43,000 --> 00:35:45,480
the Bible at the time and I
started reading about these

558
00:35:45,480 --> 00:35:48,720
miracles that Jesus did.
I just really believe that he's

559
00:35:48,720 --> 00:35:50,440
going to heal me of every
miracle, right?

560
00:35:51,000 --> 00:35:55,640
So I went to the doctor.
I, I just, I was a transparent,

561
00:35:55,640 --> 00:35:57,760
I said I'm a drug addict, I'm an
alcoholic.

562
00:35:57,960 --> 00:36:02,040
How, how can you help me?
You know, And he, he had a

563
00:36:02,040 --> 00:36:06,320
strategy of medication to give
me and I took some of those and

564
00:36:06,440 --> 00:36:10,240
I had medical condition, man,
just a list and list of medical

565
00:36:10,240 --> 00:36:12,520
things.
And I'll never forget, man.

566
00:36:12,520 --> 00:36:14,120
I did everything the doctor told
me to.

567
00:36:14,680 --> 00:36:17,040
I took the medications like he
told me to take.

568
00:36:18,040 --> 00:36:22,840
And then I remember my dad said,
you're, you're, you're in,

569
00:36:23,480 --> 00:36:27,880
you're in, you have so many
medical conditions.

570
00:36:28,160 --> 00:36:29,800
How are you going to overcome
that?

571
00:36:29,800 --> 00:36:31,760
Is that number one?
I'm not overcoming anything.

572
00:36:32,080 --> 00:36:34,800
God's going to heal me of these
mirror, you know, of these

573
00:36:34,800 --> 00:36:37,120
physical conditions
miraculously.

574
00:36:37,760 --> 00:36:40,800
And I'm going to overcome these
drug addictions and my alcohol

575
00:36:40,800 --> 00:36:44,520
addictions by the power of God,
you know.

576
00:36:44,840 --> 00:36:48,360
And so I would, I would say this
to answer your question.

577
00:36:50,080 --> 00:36:54,080
I slowly stopped.
Doing 1 drug at a time now, I

578
00:36:54,080 --> 00:36:58,520
never did crystal meth, I never
did cocaine again.

579
00:36:58,720 --> 00:37:02,680
I never did those hard drugs, I
never did that.

580
00:37:03,040 --> 00:37:08,160
I did do some softer drugs and I
slowly wean them out of my life

581
00:37:08,360 --> 00:37:12,120
to where just a couple years
later man, I was completely set

582
00:37:12,120 --> 00:37:16,160
free from all drugs except
tobacco except cigarettes.

583
00:37:16,600 --> 00:37:19,520
Completely set free from
alcohol, you know?

584
00:37:19,520 --> 00:37:22,920
But it was a process for me.
There's some people who they,

585
00:37:22,920 --> 00:37:25,960
they give their life to Christ
and God takes those addictions

586
00:37:25,960 --> 00:37:29,720
away immediately.
But I, that wasn't my story.

587
00:37:30,120 --> 00:37:34,480
But I'd slowly just stop doing 1
drug at a time.

588
00:37:34,480 --> 00:37:38,760
And eventually, you know, the
Lord set me free from all of

589
00:37:38,760 --> 00:37:41,640
those addictions.
Yeah.

590
00:37:42,480 --> 00:37:44,840
And not just, not just drug
addiction, man, but I'm talking

591
00:37:44,840 --> 00:37:47,880
like sex addiction.
I was a sex addict.

592
00:37:48,160 --> 00:37:50,280
I'm talking to porn, porno
addiction.

593
00:37:50,280 --> 00:37:52,040
I was so addicted to
pornography.

594
00:37:52,480 --> 00:37:55,520
I mean, gambling.
I had a man, I had a gambling

595
00:37:55,520 --> 00:37:57,200
addiction like you would not
believe.

596
00:37:57,440 --> 00:38:01,080
So the Lord took all those
addictions away from me.

597
00:38:01,080 --> 00:38:04,840
It was a period of time for me.
So it was a process, you know?

598
00:38:04,840 --> 00:38:08,640
So yeah, I praise God that he's
taken all those addictions from

599
00:38:08,640 --> 00:38:10,240
me.
Yeah.

600
00:38:11,880 --> 00:38:16,240
Well, I want to explore this a
little more, Mark, because at

601
00:38:16,240 --> 00:38:22,560
the outset you talked about how
your mom set some expectations

602
00:38:23,040 --> 00:38:27,280
of sow sow your wild oats.
You know what I mean?

603
00:38:27,320 --> 00:38:30,280
Go get after it, party as hard
as you can.

604
00:38:30,760 --> 00:38:35,040
And then just a moment ago you
talked about how you went back

605
00:38:35,040 --> 00:38:39,320
to them because they were going
to be accountability for you.

606
00:38:40,160 --> 00:38:45,560
So right size those reconcile
those two things for us.

607
00:38:45,800 --> 00:38:48,160
Why did you decide to go back to
them specifically?

608
00:38:48,640 --> 00:38:50,960
Well.
You know, I, I'll tell you, I

609
00:38:50,960 --> 00:38:53,440
called them for Vegas and I told
them I was a drug addict.

610
00:38:54,480 --> 00:38:57,040
I told them I was near death.
I told them that I just gave my

611
00:38:57,040 --> 00:39:02,320
life to Jesus, that I, I want to
come home and I want them to

612
00:39:02,320 --> 00:39:04,960
hold me accountable and nurse me
back to health.

613
00:39:05,760 --> 00:39:09,760
They told me, no, we're, we're
not open to that.

614
00:39:10,120 --> 00:39:14,440
So when I first came back from
Vegas, I actually stayed with my

615
00:39:14,440 --> 00:39:16,400
best friend.
His name's Kirby Fleming.

616
00:39:17,280 --> 00:39:20,840
And he said, man, I'll pick you
up at the airport, I'll open my

617
00:39:20,840 --> 00:39:24,520
home to you.
So when I went there I, I can't

618
00:39:24,520 --> 00:39:27,320
even remember how long of a
period of time it was, But when

619
00:39:27,320 --> 00:39:31,920
I physically got rested up, I
showed up on my parents driveway

620
00:39:32,400 --> 00:39:37,080
and I had two little suitcases
that I could barely carry man.

621
00:39:38,240 --> 00:39:41,160
And I just drive there.
Someone dropped me off.

622
00:39:41,400 --> 00:39:43,280
I said don't leave man.
I don't know how this is going

623
00:39:43,280 --> 00:39:48,000
to go.
And when they when they saw me

624
00:39:49,040 --> 00:39:54,920
and where I was at, they really
believed that I was as bad as

625
00:39:54,920 --> 00:39:57,360
what I was saying.
And that's when they decided to

626
00:39:57,360 --> 00:39:59,800
bring me in and to take care of
me.

627
00:40:00,120 --> 00:40:04,720
But not until you got to
remember I was the most on.

628
00:40:06,120 --> 00:40:07,600
My parents.
Didn't have any trust in me.

629
00:40:07,600 --> 00:40:10,440
Whatsoever I lived a lifestyle
of lying.

630
00:40:10,440 --> 00:40:12,000
They didn't believe anything I
said.

631
00:40:12,000 --> 00:40:15,320
They thought I was probably
thought I was trying to hustle

632
00:40:15,320 --> 00:40:20,640
them to get what I wanted and I
was fabricating a, a, a, a, a

633
00:40:20,640 --> 00:40:23,080
lie just to use them for
something.

634
00:40:23,080 --> 00:40:27,200
But when they saw me, man, and
they saw that, hey, I am really

635
00:40:27,200 --> 00:40:32,120
in the condition that I'm in,
they welcomed me in and they

636
00:40:32,120 --> 00:40:35,800
nursed me back to health.
And during that process, man,

637
00:40:36,120 --> 00:40:37,920
they saw God.
They weren't believers at the

638
00:40:37,920 --> 00:40:43,880
time, but God worked 1 miracle
after another after another.

639
00:40:44,040 --> 00:40:47,240
And through that process, within
that three month period of time

640
00:40:47,240 --> 00:40:51,000
that I was staying with them,
you know, my mom came to faith

641
00:40:51,240 --> 00:40:54,160
through Jesus.
It was crazy how God

642
00:40:54,160 --> 00:40:57,760
orchestrated that I had this is
years later, I had the

643
00:40:57,760 --> 00:41:01,560
opportunity to lead my father to
Jesus.

644
00:41:01,960 --> 00:41:07,600
So now we're all a family who
are Christ's followers.

645
00:41:07,840 --> 00:41:10,520
So it's just amazing how God
worked that out, you know?

646
00:41:10,520 --> 00:41:14,600
And he, he, he all has brought
us into the family of God.

647
00:41:14,600 --> 00:41:16,480
It's just really, really
amazing, man.

648
00:41:18,600 --> 00:41:21,640
Oh yes, it is.
Go God, man.

649
00:41:22,680 --> 00:41:26,920
Wow.
Yeah, I think, I think that I

650
00:41:26,920 --> 00:41:30,360
think the thing that really
grabbed their attention is as

651
00:41:30,360 --> 00:41:33,840
God healed me and I went back to
the doctor and that list became

652
00:41:33,840 --> 00:41:37,720
shorter and shorter and shorter.
And I would share Bible verses

653
00:41:38,000 --> 00:41:39,480
with him, like, hey, I'm reading
the Bible.

654
00:41:39,480 --> 00:41:41,680
And keep in mind, I'm reading
the Bible for the first time.

655
00:41:41,960 --> 00:41:45,000
I had never read the Bible, but
I'm like, hey, I'm reading about

656
00:41:45,000 --> 00:41:48,000
this person getting healed and
this person getting healed.

657
00:41:48,160 --> 00:41:51,800
And I'm like, hey, I'm not the
smartest guy in the world, but I

658
00:41:51,800 --> 00:41:54,160
believe God could.
If God could do it for them,

659
00:41:54,160 --> 00:41:57,120
he's going to do it for me.
I mean, after all, if he's kept

660
00:41:57,120 --> 00:42:00,120
me alive for his purpose, I've
got to be healthy.

661
00:42:00,880 --> 00:42:04,400
You know, I read about Lazarus
being raised from the dead.

662
00:42:04,760 --> 00:42:06,440
You know, I'm like, that's my
life story.

663
00:42:06,760 --> 00:42:08,880
You know, I'm reading about
these different people being

664
00:42:08,880 --> 00:42:13,200
healed, you know, a man that was
blind, but now he can see.

665
00:42:13,440 --> 00:42:16,880
I mean, if God could do that for
him, he could shrink down these

666
00:42:16,880 --> 00:42:20,600
medical issues that I have to
nothing and I could be in

667
00:42:20,600 --> 00:42:23,360
perfect health again.
So I just proclaimed it and

668
00:42:23,360 --> 00:42:26,400
declared it.
And my, my parents saw that

669
00:42:26,400 --> 00:42:30,400
belief in that faith, you know,
and Jesus, the great physician,

670
00:42:30,400 --> 00:42:33,160
right?
And they just saw my faith in

671
00:42:33,160 --> 00:42:36,480
Christ and it kind of caught
their attention for a little

672
00:42:36,480 --> 00:42:38,480
while.
And, and through the, the

673
00:42:38,640 --> 00:42:42,600
miraculous healings that, you
know, God did for me, they, they

674
00:42:42,600 --> 00:42:46,240
just thought that, hey, there's
something is going on here, you

675
00:42:46,240 --> 00:42:50,440
know?
And yeah, so and, and through a,

676
00:42:50,680 --> 00:42:54,000
a, there were a series of
miracles that they witnessed.

677
00:42:54,000 --> 00:42:57,560
My mom came to faith, I think,
just a few months after I came

678
00:42:57,560 --> 00:42:59,960
home.
Just amazing how God has done

679
00:42:59,960 --> 00:43:05,000
that, man.
Yeah, praise God, Mark.

680
00:43:05,840 --> 00:43:11,440
What do you attribute the
conviction that you had?

681
00:43:11,960 --> 00:43:14,120
This is now like in your folks
house.

682
00:43:14,120 --> 00:43:16,440
You're back home and you're
talking about, you know, your

683
00:43:16,440 --> 00:43:20,400
belief in your conviction, in
the healing that you're

684
00:43:20,400 --> 00:43:22,840
expecting.
What do you attribute that to,

685
00:43:22,840 --> 00:43:26,200
'cause it clearly had an impact
on you, but also had an impact

686
00:43:26,200 --> 00:43:28,280
on your folks as they're
observing all of that?

687
00:43:29,160 --> 00:43:33,440
Yeah.
I think #1 I remember the, I

688
00:43:33,440 --> 00:43:35,640
don't know, it was the first
night or the first week out back

689
00:43:35,640 --> 00:43:38,080
at my parents' house, right?
I don't know.

690
00:43:38,080 --> 00:43:40,720
I can't tell you to this day how
I had a Bible.

691
00:43:40,720 --> 00:43:43,840
I have no clue.
I had a Bible.

692
00:43:43,840 --> 00:43:47,720
Someone, somehow God got that to
me.

693
00:43:47,720 --> 00:43:51,440
I can't even tell you how that
happened, but I remember taking

694
00:43:51,440 --> 00:43:54,360
that Bible.
I'm back at my parents house,

695
00:43:54,360 --> 00:43:56,760
man, in the same bed that I
slept in when I was a little

696
00:43:56,760 --> 00:44:00,960
kid.
I kneeled down man, and I fanned

697
00:44:00,960 --> 00:44:05,320
through the I got on my knees, I
fanned through the Bible just

698
00:44:05,320 --> 00:44:08,080
stopped and I pointed my finger
and I remember this prayer.

699
00:44:08,080 --> 00:44:13,280
I said, God, if you don't teach
me the truth of your word and

700
00:44:13,280 --> 00:44:16,840
show me that as real, I'll never
read it again.

701
00:44:16,840 --> 00:44:19,320
I'll probably go back to my old
lifestyle and I'll die.

702
00:44:20,160 --> 00:44:22,760
Man.
First time I ever read the

703
00:44:22,760 --> 00:44:26,840
Bible.
This is where I landed Psalm 1,

704
00:44:28,520 --> 00:44:36,840
Psalm 1, and it said, blessed is
the man that walks not in the

705
00:44:36,840 --> 00:44:41,240
counsel of the ungodly nor
stands in the way of sinners.

706
00:44:41,280 --> 00:44:43,600
I didn't even finish the verse,
man.

707
00:44:43,600 --> 00:44:49,320
I started weeping, I started
crying and I said, God, your

708
00:44:49,320 --> 00:44:53,440
word is true.
I didn't even finish the verse,

709
00:44:53,680 --> 00:44:56,760
but you just described that if
you don't do these things,

710
00:44:56,760 --> 00:45:00,840
you'll be blessed.
And I said that I live my life

711
00:45:00,840 --> 00:45:04,320
for these things and it almost
cost me in my life.

712
00:45:04,680 --> 00:45:07,920
I believe in the word of God was
true.

713
00:45:08,320 --> 00:45:11,080
I made a commitment.
Then it goes on, that verse goes

714
00:45:11,080 --> 00:45:14,120
on later on to say, hey, you
meditate on these things day and

715
00:45:14,120 --> 00:45:16,760
night.
I made a commitment right then

716
00:45:16,760 --> 00:45:22,120
and there to read the word of
God every single day to eat it

717
00:45:22,120 --> 00:45:25,440
up.
You know what, it was simple to

718
00:45:25,440 --> 00:45:28,480
me.
I used to be a professional

719
00:45:28,480 --> 00:45:31,000
athlete.
I was all in for that.

720
00:45:31,400 --> 00:45:34,600
I live my life as a party
animal.

721
00:45:34,600 --> 00:45:37,840
I was all in with that.
So you know what, I had the

722
00:45:37,840 --> 00:45:40,520
mentality.
This word of God is true.

723
00:45:40,760 --> 00:45:44,520
I'm all in with reading that
every single day.

724
00:45:44,680 --> 00:45:47,360
I'm going to taste this.
I'm going to see that it is good

725
00:45:47,760 --> 00:45:51,360
that one verse of Scripture
changed my entire life in an

726
00:45:51,400 --> 00:45:54,920
instant.
So I devour the word of God

727
00:45:54,920 --> 00:45:59,840
every single day, and his
transforming power comes through

728
00:45:59,840 --> 00:46:02,480
reading the Word of God.
My parents saw me reading the

729
00:46:02,480 --> 00:46:04,920
Bible.
They saw the amount of joy that

730
00:46:04,920 --> 00:46:08,400
I got out of it, you know, And I
would share things, you know?

731
00:46:08,880 --> 00:46:12,240
Yeah, I knew that.
Hey, but I didn't really care if

732
00:46:12,240 --> 00:46:13,920
they wanted to hear it or not.
I'm going to share.

733
00:46:15,480 --> 00:46:17,120
Yeah, 'cause you're overflowing
with.

734
00:46:17,120 --> 00:46:21,200
Joy, Yeah.
Overflowing with joy and as I

735
00:46:21,200 --> 00:46:25,240
share the word you know with
them, it started to change their

736
00:46:25,240 --> 00:46:28,840
life it started to change their
perspective you know and I would

737
00:46:28,840 --> 00:46:32,680
tell my mom, hey mom, I thought
you gave me the greatest plan on

738
00:46:32,680 --> 00:46:35,360
planet earth.
Go sow your oats.

739
00:46:35,600 --> 00:46:41,080
But I'm reading in here that the
Lord says that sucks is between

740
00:46:41,480 --> 00:46:46,680
a man and a woman who are under
the marriage covenant of his.

741
00:46:46,960 --> 00:46:50,080
The Lord, you know, he created a
marriage.

742
00:46:50,320 --> 00:46:53,520
And the way that I was living
and the way that you're living.

743
00:46:54,040 --> 00:46:55,600
Yeah.
That you were once living, I

744
00:46:55,600 --> 00:46:56,960
think.
I think that's how she got my

745
00:46:56,960 --> 00:46:58,680
dad over in Korea when he's in
the army.

746
00:46:58,680 --> 00:47:01,440
Come on now.
Come on now.

747
00:47:01,920 --> 00:47:05,800
Let's just speak the truth.
So the way you were living, you

748
00:47:05,800 --> 00:47:09,520
know, is, is what we thought
how?

749
00:47:09,520 --> 00:47:11,080
Life work, but you know,
according.

750
00:47:11,080 --> 00:47:15,960
To God, that's not his plan.
So I would just share these

751
00:47:15,960 --> 00:47:18,600
things.
They were revelation and I said

752
00:47:18,600 --> 00:47:22,280
we, we've got the mind of God,
the heart of God.

753
00:47:22,400 --> 00:47:27,640
We've got these guidelines, not
rules to keep us from having a

754
00:47:27,640 --> 00:47:33,040
good life, but guidelines to
keep us other direction to have

755
00:47:33,040 --> 00:47:37,760
a life of liberation in the life
that God has created us for, you

756
00:47:37,760 --> 00:47:42,520
know, so I think like sharing,
sharing the word with them.

757
00:47:42,520 --> 00:47:46,040
And they, they were just like,
wow, you're so joyful and out of

758
00:47:46,040 --> 00:47:48,560
everything you experienced in
your life, you've never wanted

759
00:47:48,560 --> 00:47:51,920
to do anything like you.
You want to get into that word

760
00:47:51,920 --> 00:47:53,440
of God.
You're passionate about it,

761
00:47:53,440 --> 00:47:56,800
you're enthusiastic about it.
You're like, that's what you

762
00:47:56,800 --> 00:47:59,520
want to do.
There's something in there that

763
00:47:59,760 --> 00:48:02,040
we need to discover too.
So, yeah.

764
00:48:02,160 --> 00:48:04,680
And I remember one time, Nick,
I'll never forget this.

765
00:48:05,200 --> 00:48:07,840
This is one guy got my mom's
attention, man.

766
00:48:08,400 --> 00:48:11,440
I was calling DNBI, was trying
to get my license back in the

767
00:48:11,440 --> 00:48:12,920
state of Virginia.
Going through that entire

768
00:48:12,920 --> 00:48:15,480
process because keep in mind,
I'm moving from Las Vegas to

769
00:48:15,760 --> 00:48:19,560
Virginia, back home to Virginia.
I'm with a lady at DMV.

770
00:48:19,800 --> 00:48:25,360
I'm on the phone and this woman,
she says, hey, I want to call

771
00:48:25,360 --> 00:48:27,680
you back in a couple minutes.
I need to go take my lunch

772
00:48:27,680 --> 00:48:29,920
break.
This is just a regular

773
00:48:29,920 --> 00:48:32,880
conversation with me trying to
find out the steps of me getting

774
00:48:32,880 --> 00:48:36,600
my Virginia license back.
Yeah, I said, yeah, call me

775
00:48:36,600 --> 00:48:37,680
back.
Here's my number.

776
00:48:38,120 --> 00:48:41,280
She calls me back.
I don't know, 1520 minutes later

777
00:48:41,840 --> 00:48:44,720
and she when she calls me back,
I answer the phone.

778
00:48:44,720 --> 00:48:49,120
My mom's right next to me.
And she said, young man, God has

779
00:48:49,120 --> 00:48:52,840
put this in my heart.
He's going to restore you.

780
00:48:53,320 --> 00:48:57,920
He's going to anoint you.
And I can tell that he's doing a

781
00:48:57,920 --> 00:49:01,440
new work in your life.
And I want to pray with you.

782
00:49:02,520 --> 00:49:04,760
And I'm like, let's pray, pray
for me.

783
00:49:04,760 --> 00:49:07,640
I need it.
And I remember Mick, my mom was

784
00:49:07,640 --> 00:49:10,640
next to me.
After the conversation, her

785
00:49:10,640 --> 00:49:15,280
comment was this, wait a minute,
you're not supposed to do that

786
00:49:16,120 --> 00:49:17,680
while you're working.
Why?

787
00:49:17,880 --> 00:49:20,120
Why would she do that?
I said, well, no, she took a

788
00:49:20,120 --> 00:49:22,200
lunch break to come and pray
with me.

789
00:49:22,800 --> 00:49:26,200
You know, why would someone take
a lunch break to pray with you?

790
00:49:26,200 --> 00:49:27,800
Why?
Why would they do that?

791
00:49:27,800 --> 00:49:30,840
And I said, well, obviously God
has put that in her heart.

792
00:49:31,160 --> 00:49:35,320
God's working in her through her
to minister to me.

793
00:49:35,640 --> 00:49:38,000
You know, like like these
encounters you read in the

794
00:49:38,000 --> 00:49:41,040
Bible.
And right at that moment, Mick,

795
00:49:41,360 --> 00:49:44,680
my mom said there's something
going on here.

796
00:49:45,360 --> 00:49:52,720
And I believe that God is using
that woman to to pray and speak

797
00:49:52,720 --> 00:49:54,560
life into you.
And at that moment, something

798
00:49:54,560 --> 00:49:56,440
changed in my mom.
Now she didn't give her a life

799
00:49:56,440 --> 00:50:00,440
to Christ then, but man, that's
when God got her attention.

800
00:50:01,000 --> 00:50:04,160
You know, that's that's what guy
got got your attention because

801
00:50:04,160 --> 00:50:07,960
you know what, when she took
time and she looked at what's

802
00:50:07,960 --> 00:50:13,120
happened when you look through
that phone conversation.

803
00:50:13,280 --> 00:50:15,120
And then I remember her
countenance.

804
00:50:15,320 --> 00:50:20,280
I remembered that change in her
facial expression, in her

805
00:50:20,280 --> 00:50:26,520
countenance, and God touched her
heart when she decided to look

806
00:50:26,760 --> 00:50:30,120
at what was really happening
through that phone conversation.

807
00:50:30,120 --> 00:50:34,080
Man, I'll never forget that.
Never changed my life too.

808
00:50:34,120 --> 00:50:37,160
My mom.
It really changed her life, man,

809
00:50:37,160 --> 00:50:41,000
'cause she decided through that
phone call, when you look, when

810
00:50:41,000 --> 00:50:46,120
she looks, she will grasp the
truth.

811
00:50:46,160 --> 00:50:47,720
And that's when something
clicked in her.

812
00:50:47,720 --> 00:50:50,280
Man, was amazing.
Yeah.

813
00:50:50,880 --> 00:50:54,640
Wow.
It shouldn't be.

814
00:50:54,640 --> 00:50:57,360
Lost on all of us that are
either watching or listening

815
00:50:57,360 --> 00:51:02,200
just the simple fact of you
living your life differently.

816
00:51:02,680 --> 00:51:08,320
That woman at the DMV or from
the DMV living her life to

817
00:51:08,320 --> 00:51:14,400
subsequently pray God uses that
to impact your mom and in a lot

818
00:51:14,400 --> 00:51:17,920
of ways it sounds like sets the
stage later or not that long

819
00:51:17,920 --> 00:51:21,520
later for her your mom to give
her life to Christ man Yeah,

820
00:51:22,080 --> 00:51:23,440
praise.
God, yeah.

821
00:51:23,560 --> 00:51:26,720
Praise God.
Yeah.

822
00:51:26,720 --> 00:51:28,160
Mark.
Mark.

823
00:51:29,320 --> 00:51:32,720
There's so much here, man.
Wow.

824
00:51:33,280 --> 00:51:39,600
Well, let's let's land the plane
here with the questions that we

825
00:51:39,600 --> 00:51:45,880
ask all of our guests.
And you've described a lifetime

826
00:51:45,920 --> 00:51:49,880
for us.
And then ultimately, essentially

827
00:51:49,880 --> 00:51:54,440
kind of two prayers.
God, if you're real, show me and

828
00:51:54,440 --> 00:51:58,360
and then the the crying out, the
desperation, forgive me my sins

829
00:51:58,360 --> 00:52:04,400
and and really redeem me and.
God met you in.

830
00:52:04,400 --> 00:52:06,520
Those spots.
So the question really becomes,

831
00:52:06,520 --> 00:52:14,480
was that coincidence or God?
Well, let me tell you something.

832
00:52:15,040 --> 00:52:19,120
There are no coincidences.
Coincidences do not exist.

833
00:52:19,920 --> 00:52:27,040
That was divinely orchestrated
by God 100% every step in my

834
00:52:27,040 --> 00:52:30,600
faith a journey.
It's there's no coincidences.

835
00:52:30,760 --> 00:52:32,960
You know we live in a world,
man.

836
00:52:35,040 --> 00:52:37,360
Really, if you think about why?
We exist.

837
00:52:37,640 --> 00:52:41,520
The three most common questions
human beings have is how did we

838
00:52:41,520 --> 00:52:46,080
get here, why are we here, and
what happens when we leave here?

839
00:52:46,600 --> 00:52:53,000
OK, and God's recipe, his divine
recipe, he answers that question

840
00:52:53,000 --> 00:53:00,840
man in Jeremiah 291112 and 13
you know, Jeremiah 2911 as I,

841
00:53:01,160 --> 00:53:04,320
you know, as I started to learn
the, the the Scriptures is what

842
00:53:04,320 --> 00:53:09,320
that police officer spoken to my
life man, you know, I know that

843
00:53:09,320 --> 00:53:16,080
now and you know what people are
looking for is the truth, right?

844
00:53:16,640 --> 00:53:20,760
Well, God says this in his word,
Jeremiah 2911 through 13, he

845
00:53:20,760 --> 00:53:24,680
says and, and for everyone
listening, for everyone

846
00:53:24,720 --> 00:53:27,920
watching.
If you're a Christ follower, you

847
00:53:27,920 --> 00:53:30,400
already know this man.
But it's good for us to be

848
00:53:30,400 --> 00:53:34,960
reminded of this, you know, what
with the audience, your seismic,

849
00:53:35,560 --> 00:53:38,000
I mean, it's a Christian
broadcast.

850
00:53:38,720 --> 00:53:42,680
It's all about Jesus.
But with a size audience that

851
00:53:42,680 --> 00:53:45,600
you have, there's always people
out there who are listening or

852
00:53:45,600 --> 00:53:50,280
watching who do not know who
Jesus is, but they're watching

853
00:53:50,280 --> 00:53:53,800
this episode or listening to
this episode or your previous

854
00:53:53,800 --> 00:53:56,400
episodes.
And they hear people talking

855
00:53:56,400 --> 00:53:58,240
about Jesus.
They hear people talking about

856
00:53:58,240 --> 00:54:00,080
God.
They're, they're hearing stories

857
00:54:00,080 --> 00:54:03,360
of miracles.
And, and they have a curiosity,

858
00:54:03,360 --> 00:54:09,400
Man, you know what I believe I'm
taking time to look and, and I,

859
00:54:09,400 --> 00:54:15,160
I know this isn't coincidence.
You know God says this to you

860
00:54:15,160 --> 00:54:19,560
right now, He says, For I know
the thoughts that I think

861
00:54:19,560 --> 00:54:25,640
towards you, that's of peace,
not of evil, that's of.

862
00:54:25,640 --> 00:54:29,720
Peace to.
Give you a hope and a future.

863
00:54:30,480 --> 00:54:36,840
Then he goes on to say, then you
shall go and pray to me, and I

864
00:54:36,840 --> 00:54:39,040
will come to you.
I will hear you and I will come

865
00:54:39,040 --> 00:54:42,800
to you.
And then he says this.

866
00:54:43,760 --> 00:54:48,520
And if you seek for me
wholeheartedly, you will find

867
00:54:48,520 --> 00:54:50,800
me.
I'm here to tell you, man, I'll

868
00:54:50,800 --> 00:54:53,600
bet my life on it.
If someone held a gun in my

869
00:54:53,600 --> 00:54:58,120
head, man, it said, is this
coincidence or is this of God?

870
00:54:58,560 --> 00:55:01,320
Because if you say it's
coincidence, I'm going to pull

871
00:55:01,320 --> 00:55:05,320
this trigger and in your life,
I'm going to say it is not

872
00:55:05,320 --> 00:55:08,200
coincidence.
It's totally divine

873
00:55:08,200 --> 00:55:12,920
orchestration of almighty God.
I would die.

874
00:55:13,120 --> 00:55:16,160
I would die before I ever would
tell someone.

875
00:55:16,360 --> 00:55:19,840
It's coincidence, man.
With God, there are no

876
00:55:19,840 --> 00:55:22,560
coincidences.
You know, God brought us to this

877
00:55:22,560 --> 00:55:25,240
earth, man, right?
That's how we got here.

878
00:55:25,240 --> 00:55:28,240
Yeah.
He used our parents, you know,

879
00:55:28,360 --> 00:55:29,640
to to get us here.
Yeah.

880
00:55:30,120 --> 00:55:34,920
All right.
We're here to discover who God

881
00:55:34,920 --> 00:55:36,000
is.
He gives us Mick.

882
00:55:36,200 --> 00:55:42,920
He gives us our whole entire
life to discover who he is, not

883
00:55:42,920 --> 00:55:46,360
what the world offers, man.
I know about that, man.

884
00:55:47,280 --> 00:55:48,840
That's not what this life is
about.

885
00:55:48,960 --> 00:55:53,520
He gives us, I talked to a guy
today, man, at the gym I worked

886
00:55:53,520 --> 00:55:55,600
out this morning comes up to me.
He's not a believer.

887
00:55:55,600 --> 00:55:57,520
He's a atheist.
He says.

888
00:55:57,840 --> 00:56:02,360
Man, what he I'm just shocked
about Charlie Kirk being

889
00:56:02,360 --> 00:56:05,440
assassinated yesterday.
And I said I.

890
00:56:05,440 --> 00:56:08,720
Am too man.
He said I'm heartbroken, I'm

891
00:56:08,720 --> 00:56:11,240
heartbroken and I told him, I
said, you know what?

892
00:56:11,480 --> 00:56:15,480
I said, you know what guy?
I want you to get after the from

893
00:56:15,920 --> 00:56:17,840
Charlie's death.
Sorry, I get a little emotional

894
00:56:17,840 --> 00:56:19,720
man 'cause it was devastating to
me, man.

895
00:56:20,720 --> 00:56:25,160
I said God has put you on this
earth to discover who he is

896
00:56:25,720 --> 00:56:29,840
before your life's over.
Charlie Kirk, his life ended

897
00:56:29,840 --> 00:56:32,800
like that.
And one day your, your life will

898
00:56:32,800 --> 00:56:34,960
as well.
And I said, man, I want to

899
00:56:34,960 --> 00:56:41,600
encourage you use the time that
you have with your life not to

900
00:56:41,600 --> 00:56:46,040
think what you think is real,
but discover the truth of who

901
00:56:46,320 --> 00:56:49,760
God has created you to be and
for you to know your Savior.

902
00:56:49,760 --> 00:56:54,120
So when you pass from this life
into eternity that you're going

903
00:56:54,120 --> 00:56:56,160
to the right eternal
destination.

904
00:56:56,440 --> 00:57:00,200
And he told me, he said, look,
man, I want to think what I want

905
00:57:00,200 --> 00:57:02,480
to think.
And if I'm wrong, then I'm

906
00:57:02,480 --> 00:57:03,920
wrong.
It is what it is.

907
00:57:03,920 --> 00:57:07,800
I said, no, brother, it's not.
It is what it is.

908
00:57:08,200 --> 00:57:13,640
God has given us our entire life
to search for the truth.

909
00:57:15,040 --> 00:57:17,120
We've got to take advantage of
that.

910
00:57:17,120 --> 00:57:20,560
But we've got to search for
Jesus and we know Jesus.

911
00:57:20,800 --> 00:57:23,960
We need to grow more intimate
with Jesus.

912
00:57:24,360 --> 00:57:28,280
Whoever is listening or watching
now, if you don't know Jesus,

913
00:57:28,480 --> 00:57:31,920
you got to know that he's
created you to be born on this

914
00:57:31,920 --> 00:57:35,680
earth to discover who he is
before you leave the leave this

915
00:57:35,680 --> 00:57:40,600
earth and to make sure your
eternal destination is in heaven

916
00:57:41,000 --> 00:57:43,120
with him because he loves us so
much man.

917
00:57:43,280 --> 00:57:45,720
He wants us to spend eternity
with him.

918
00:57:46,080 --> 00:57:50,040
So there is no coincidence, man.
There is absolutely no

919
00:57:50,040 --> 00:57:53,640
coincidences and there are
people that are watching or

920
00:57:53,640 --> 00:57:56,880
listening to this right now.
And I want to encourage you,

921
00:57:56,880 --> 00:58:03,320
when you look at the truth, I'm
going to share the truth with

922
00:58:03,320 --> 00:58:05,880
your audience.
Mick, if that's OK with you, go

923
00:58:06,160 --> 00:58:07,560
right ahead.
I got your.

924
00:58:07,560 --> 00:58:09,360
Thumbs up on that.
Yep.

925
00:58:09,680 --> 00:58:11,040
So people are.
Watching right?

926
00:58:11,040 --> 00:58:20,400
Now for the Christian believers,
I implore us to pass on that

927
00:58:20,400 --> 00:58:26,280
baton that Charlie Kirk has
given to us, a bold man in faith

928
00:58:27,160 --> 00:58:31,040
who proclaimed the gospel of
Jesus Christ, someone who was

929
00:58:31,040 --> 00:58:35,760
not ashamed of the gospel of
Jesus Christ, someone who live

930
00:58:36,320 --> 00:58:40,800
to share the gospel message.
Let's grab that baton from him

931
00:58:41,520 --> 00:58:45,560
and let's make it our mission to
take the message of salvation to

932
00:58:45,560 --> 00:58:50,600
as many people as we can.
Let's grab that baton and let's

933
00:58:50,600 --> 00:58:56,360
pass it on to the next person as
we grab that baton.

934
00:58:56,360 --> 00:59:00,240
It's like think of a.
Think of a 400 meter relay race.

935
00:59:01,080 --> 00:59:02,960
You know how they start that
race and they hand it off?

936
00:59:02,960 --> 00:59:05,800
The second person and third
person and that anchor person?

937
00:59:06,400 --> 00:59:11,360
Yep, let's grab that baton,
alright, and let's carry out the

938
00:59:11,360 --> 00:59:14,280
mission of Jesus Christ for all
the Christians, for all the

939
00:59:14,280 --> 00:59:17,880
Christ followers.
Look, let's continue to seek

940
00:59:17,880 --> 00:59:23,440
Jesus with awe of our heart and
grow in deep intimacy with him.

941
00:59:24,040 --> 00:59:29,600
Let's continue that, let's draw
closer to Him and let's love Him

942
00:59:29,960 --> 00:59:34,760
how He's created us to love Him.
For all those who are not

943
00:59:34,760 --> 00:59:37,120
believers in Jesus, you're
listening.

944
00:59:37,120 --> 00:59:39,320
You're like, man, you know what
I'm hearing about God, I'm

945
00:59:39,320 --> 00:59:41,080
hearing about Jesus.
I believe.

946
00:59:41,320 --> 00:59:43,640
I believe.
I want to know how I can make a

947
00:59:43,640 --> 00:59:46,120
decision to start a relationship
with God.

948
00:59:46,280 --> 00:59:50,520
I want to know how I can assure
that my eternity is going to be

949
00:59:50,520 --> 00:59:54,440
in heaven where all my loved
ones are there before me that

950
00:59:54,440 --> 01:00:00,080
know Jesus and where Jesus the
King, the King of kings, the

951
01:00:00,080 --> 01:00:04,120
creator of everything that
exists.

952
01:00:04,440 --> 01:00:07,400
He wants you to know this
message right now.

953
01:00:07,400 --> 01:00:11,240
To all those who are not
following Christ right now.

954
01:00:11,360 --> 01:00:14,560
First of all, He loves you, He
loves you.

955
01:00:14,560 --> 01:00:18,360
God is real, He loves you, and
this is the gospel message.

956
01:00:18,560 --> 01:00:22,920
This is His plan of salvation.
All right, this is how you know

957
01:00:23,120 --> 01:00:24,840
you come into a relationship
with God.

958
01:00:24,840 --> 01:00:28,720
If you believe this, and this is
how you know you get your ticket

959
01:00:28,720 --> 01:00:31,800
to eternity, I'm going to share
it with you.

960
01:00:32,920 --> 01:00:34,680
First of all, this is all
Scripture.

961
01:00:34,680 --> 01:00:37,400
This is nothing that I've
thought up and conjured up in my

962
01:00:37,400 --> 01:00:39,600
mind.
This is all Scripture.

963
01:00:39,840 --> 01:00:45,280
There's this versus Scripture.
Romans 323 for all have sinned

964
01:00:45,840 --> 01:00:48,440
and fallen short of the glory of
God.

965
01:00:48,720 --> 01:00:52,760
Do you believe you're a Sinner?
You just do things wrong that

966
01:00:52,760 --> 01:00:55,960
you know you shouldn't do.
You can't stop for some reason.

967
01:00:56,440 --> 01:01:00,360
And every time you commit a sin,
you feel like someone's watching

968
01:01:00,360 --> 01:01:02,880
me.
That someone is God.

969
01:01:03,240 --> 01:01:06,440
He's watching you, right?
You could be alone by yourself

970
01:01:06,440 --> 01:01:09,560
in the dark.
When you commit that sin and you

971
01:01:09,560 --> 01:01:12,600
know it's not right and you try
to hide from it, God is just

972
01:01:12,600 --> 01:01:16,440
lovingly speaking to you and
reaching out to you saying, hey,

973
01:01:16,960 --> 01:01:21,520
you're doing not what I created
you to do for all have sinned.

974
01:01:21,840 --> 01:01:25,080
We're all sinners.
We all fall short of living the

975
01:01:25,080 --> 01:01:29,000
life that God created us to live
for all.

976
01:01:29,000 --> 01:01:32,360
Have sinned and come.
Short of the glory of God, do

977
01:01:32,360 --> 01:01:34,880
you believe you're a Sinner?
Do you believe that God is real?

978
01:01:34,880 --> 01:01:38,720
2 important things This next
scripture, Romans 623 for the

979
01:01:38,720 --> 01:01:41,120
wages of sin is death.
Listen to this.

980
01:01:41,280 --> 01:01:47,160
But the gift of God is eternal
life through Jesus Christ our

981
01:01:47,160 --> 01:01:48,920
Lord.
What does that mean?

982
01:01:49,320 --> 01:01:50,800
What do you believe?
That one day you're going to die

983
01:01:50,800 --> 01:01:54,720
from this life.
Charlie Kirk, his life ended

984
01:01:54,720 --> 01:01:56,800
yesterday.
Someone assassinated him.

985
01:01:56,960 --> 01:02:00,200
We're all going to die one day
from this life on earth.

986
01:02:00,280 --> 01:02:03,640
Do you believe that?
OK, if you believe that, do you

987
01:02:03,640 --> 01:02:07,000
believe that there's a place
called heaven that we will live

988
01:02:07,000 --> 01:02:10,440
in for eternity or hell for
eternity?

989
01:02:10,960 --> 01:02:14,000
It's one of those two locations,
all right?

990
01:02:15,080 --> 01:02:19,360
We are created in the image of
God imago day, which means we're

991
01:02:19,360 --> 01:02:22,120
going to live forever and
eternity.

992
01:02:22,120 --> 01:02:25,800
The places where is that eternal
destination going to be?

993
01:02:26,040 --> 01:02:29,560
If you want to choose heaven,
man, I got the good news for

994
01:02:29,560 --> 01:02:32,000
you.
This is the good news.

995
01:02:32,000 --> 01:02:34,160
It's the best news you'll ever
hear in your life.

996
01:02:35,080 --> 01:02:37,880
It's the gospel message.
It's the message of salvation.

997
01:02:38,520 --> 01:02:43,880
God says I give you a free gift.
You can't earn it, you can't

998
01:02:43,880 --> 01:02:48,560
work for it, you can't buy it.
It's a gift that God gives to

999
01:02:48,560 --> 01:02:50,600
you.
How do you receive this gift?

1000
01:02:51,120 --> 01:02:53,800
What have you heard?
That Jesus died on the cross for

1001
01:02:53,800 --> 01:02:57,040
your sins.
He did that to forgive you of

1002
01:02:57,040 --> 01:03:00,800
all your sins.
He also did this for another

1003
01:03:00,800 --> 01:03:03,320
reason.
He also died on the cross for

1004
01:03:03,320 --> 01:03:04,800
another reason.
And Mick, I don't think we

1005
01:03:04,800 --> 01:03:08,680
talked about this enough.
He died to demonstrate to you

1006
01:03:08,680 --> 01:03:13,160
how much He loves you.
Wow gave his life.

1007
01:03:13,560 --> 01:03:15,640
He gave his.
Life.

1008
01:03:16,520 --> 01:03:21,200
And if you believe that, the
next thing that you need to

1009
01:03:21,200 --> 01:03:24,800
believe is, have you ever heard
that Jesus rose again, coming

1010
01:03:24,800 --> 01:03:29,080
back to life three days later?
If you believe in that.

1011
01:03:29,600 --> 01:03:31,400
People ask why?
Why would he do that?

1012
01:03:31,640 --> 01:03:36,040
Well, he knew we would be down
on this earth searching for the

1013
01:03:36,040 --> 01:03:39,160
one and only true living God.
You got this religion, you got

1014
01:03:39,160 --> 01:03:43,800
that religion, this religion
saying this is the true God.

1015
01:03:43,800 --> 01:03:48,520
This is a true faith.
No, no, look, listen, God said,

1016
01:03:48,520 --> 01:03:53,600
I'm going to choose to show you
my method to humanity, who the

1017
01:03:53,600 --> 01:03:58,240
one and only true living God is.
I will resurrect Jesus from the

1018
01:03:58,240 --> 01:04:02,200
dead three days later.
And he predicted that hundreds

1019
01:04:02,200 --> 01:04:04,480
and thousands of years before it
happened.

1020
01:04:04,960 --> 01:04:08,000
All right, if you believe that
Jesus raised to death coming

1021
01:04:08,000 --> 01:04:12,000
back to life, this is God's plan
to show humanity, Hey, I'm the

1022
01:04:12,000 --> 01:04:15,480
one and only true living God.
If you believe in those things

1023
01:04:16,800 --> 01:04:22,480
in your not in your mind, but in
your gut, in your soul, if you

1024
01:04:22,480 --> 01:04:25,840
believe in that, listen to this.
I got the best news for you.

1025
01:04:25,960 --> 01:04:31,000
God says, but God gives you his
love in that while we are yet

1026
01:04:31,080 --> 01:04:32,920
sinners, Christ died for our
sins.

1027
01:04:32,920 --> 01:04:36,080
Listen, God loves you.
He knows the good, the bad, the

1028
01:04:36,080 --> 01:04:39,600
ugly about you.
He loves you and he wants you to

1029
01:04:39,600 --> 01:04:43,320
accept him so he could.
Be the savior of your.

1030
01:04:43,320 --> 01:04:46,040
Life and he could redeem you.
He will give you a new start,

1031
01:04:46,040 --> 01:04:48,360
just like he gave me.
And if you believe in those

1032
01:04:48,360 --> 01:04:52,080
things, God says this in the
scriptures.

1033
01:04:52,400 --> 01:04:58,960
For whosoever shall call upon
the name of the Lord shall be

1034
01:04:58,960 --> 01:05:01,240
saved.
You're listening right now and

1035
01:05:01,240 --> 01:05:03,520
you're thinking to yourself,
man, I believe this.

1036
01:05:03,760 --> 01:05:05,920
I believe this.
What is my next step?

1037
01:05:05,960 --> 01:05:08,400
Well, if you believe you're a
Sinner, if you believe that God

1038
01:05:08,400 --> 01:05:10,840
is real, if you know you're
going to die from this life one

1039
01:05:10,840 --> 01:05:13,200
day and you want to go to
heaven, you don't want to spend

1040
01:05:13,200 --> 01:05:16,160
eternity in hell, you want to
spend eternity in heaven.

1041
01:05:16,160 --> 01:05:19,640
If you believe that Jesus died
on the cross for your sins, that

1042
01:05:19,640 --> 01:05:23,120
he rose again coming back to
life three days later, it's

1043
01:05:23,120 --> 01:05:28,720
faith in that and only in that
do you put your trust in Christ.

1044
01:05:28,880 --> 01:05:32,440
For your believers out there, I
want to say a quick prayer for

1045
01:05:32,440 --> 01:05:36,360
them after I lead the prayer for
people who are going to accept

1046
01:05:36,360 --> 01:05:39,360
Christ as their Savior today.
So if you believe that and

1047
01:05:39,360 --> 01:05:43,360
you're ready to accept Christ
into your life today, just pray

1048
01:05:43,360 --> 01:05:50,240
this prayer after me.
Say, Lord Jesus, forgive me of

1049
01:05:50,240 --> 01:05:55,960
all my sins.
I believe you die for me on the

1050
01:05:55,960 --> 01:06:02,920
cross, that you rose again
coming back to life three days

1051
01:06:02,920 --> 01:06:09,000
later.
Jesus, I ask you to come into my

1052
01:06:09,320 --> 01:06:17,640
heart to take over my life, and
I make you the Savior and the

1053
01:06:17,640 --> 01:06:26,720
leader of my life.
Jesus, I repent, I turn away

1054
01:06:27,760 --> 01:06:35,240
from my current life to live my
new life in you by.

1055
01:06:35,240 --> 01:06:39,960
Seeking you.
With all that I am Jesus, I

1056
01:06:39,960 --> 01:06:44,800
thank you for saving my soul.
Amen.

1057
01:06:46,160 --> 01:06:52,680
Amen just means, hey, it's a
done deal, so be it.

1058
01:06:54,440 --> 01:06:57,040
And I also want to encourage.
Everyone who just made that

1059
01:06:57,040 --> 01:06:58,720
decision, this is what you're
going to do.

1060
01:06:59,000 --> 01:07:01,680
You got to go to Evangelism on
fire.com.

1061
01:07:02,440 --> 01:07:06,640
Evangelism on fire.com, you're
going to go to the homepage, All

1062
01:07:06,640 --> 01:07:09,160
right, click on Join our
community.

1063
01:07:10,040 --> 01:07:12,560
You got to join our community.
You're going to leave your name.

1064
01:07:12,560 --> 01:07:15,640
You're going to leave your phone
number, your address.

1065
01:07:15,960 --> 01:07:18,800
All right, And what Mick and I
are going to do, we're going to

1066
01:07:18,800 --> 01:07:22,880
send you free resources.
Number one, it's going to be the

1067
01:07:22,880 --> 01:07:24,680
Bible.
We're going to send you a free

1068
01:07:24,680 --> 01:07:27,240
Bible and we're going to send
you this book called Begin.

1069
01:07:27,480 --> 01:07:30,880
It's an awesome book about the
first steps of your journey of

1070
01:07:30,880 --> 01:07:33,520
following Jesus.
It's going to guide you.

1071
01:07:34,120 --> 01:07:37,080
It's going to give you all the
information you need to know

1072
01:07:37,080 --> 01:07:41,480
about what does it mean to begin
following Jesus as your savior

1073
01:07:41,480 --> 01:07:42,800
again.
Mick and I, we're going to send

1074
01:07:42,800 --> 01:07:44,200
that to you.
We're going to, we're going to

1075
01:07:44,200 --> 01:07:46,640
invest in your relationship with
God immediately.

1076
01:07:46,720 --> 01:07:48,320
We're going to send it to your
front door.

1077
01:07:48,520 --> 01:07:51,120
All you have to do is open up
the door, grab the package, RIP

1078
01:07:51,120 --> 01:07:52,360
it open and start.
Wait.

1079
01:07:52,960 --> 01:07:56,200
What a great deal, right, Mick?
Exactly what a great.

1080
01:07:56,200 --> 01:07:58,320
Deal and know.
This for everyone who made a

1081
01:07:58,320 --> 01:08:02,280
decision to follow Jesus.
God is going to use you to reach

1082
01:08:02,280 --> 01:08:05,680
people for Him.
He's going to give you that life

1083
01:08:05,960 --> 01:08:09,640
that He's created you to live on
planet Earth.

1084
01:08:10,120 --> 01:08:11,600
It's not going to be a easy
life.

1085
01:08:11,640 --> 01:08:13,400
It's going to be a challenging
life.

1086
01:08:13,400 --> 01:08:19,600
But anything that's good is very
challenging for all your

1087
01:08:19,600 --> 01:08:21,080
listeners.
May I pray with all your

1088
01:08:21,080 --> 01:08:23,560
listeners who are believers?
Yeah, let's do it.

1089
01:08:23,680 --> 01:08:25,120
Hey I want to.
Encourage everyone.

1090
01:08:25,120 --> 01:08:29,720
Hey, we are Christ followers.
Jesus has saved us.

1091
01:08:30,279 --> 01:08:34,200
And I want to encourage you,
it's not a pastor's job.

1092
01:08:34,200 --> 01:08:36,439
And I can say this because I'm a
pastor of a church.

1093
01:08:36,760 --> 01:08:40,460
It's not someone who's a pastor.
It's not someone who's in full

1094
01:08:40,460 --> 01:08:44,920
time vocational ministry.
It's not a mission that Jesus

1095
01:08:44,920 --> 01:08:48,960
has given to them.
It's a mission that he's

1096
01:08:48,960 --> 01:08:53,200
entrusted all of his born again
followers, his children that

1097
01:08:53,200 --> 01:08:57,880
he's given to.
He wants to use you to take the

1098
01:08:57,880 --> 01:09:02,080
gospel message to others.
Again, it's the mission of the

1099
01:09:02,080 --> 01:09:04,120
Great Commission.
Go.

1100
01:09:04,399 --> 01:09:09,200
And as we are going, make
disciples of people, baptizing

1101
01:09:09,200 --> 01:09:12,960
them in the name of the Father,
the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

1102
01:09:12,960 --> 01:09:17,160
Look, God wants to use you to
accomplish His mission.

1103
01:09:17,359 --> 01:09:18,920
Can I give you a quick stat,
Mitt?

1104
01:09:19,800 --> 01:09:22,560
Yeah, by our way.
This is a sad stat it.

1105
01:09:22,560 --> 01:09:27,960
Breaks my heart man.
And it it's it's accurate. 97%

1106
01:09:27,960 --> 01:09:32,120
of Christians will go their
entire life never leading anyone

1107
01:09:32,120 --> 01:09:40,680
to Jesus as your savior. 97% of
Christians, my encouragement is

1108
01:09:40,880 --> 01:09:45,080
may that not be me, you, or
anyone who's watching or

1109
01:09:45,080 --> 01:09:46,680
listening right now.
So let's pray.

1110
01:09:46,680 --> 01:09:51,800
Father, I come to you in the
precious, the powerful, the

1111
01:09:51,800 --> 01:09:58,080
majestic name of Jesus.
Father number one, we thank you

1112
01:09:58,680 --> 01:10:05,640
that you saved us, that you sent
your son Jesus to die for our

1113
01:10:05,640 --> 01:10:10,760
sins, to give us remission of
our sins.

1114
01:10:11,200 --> 01:10:15,360
We thank you for that, Father.
And Father, we thank you that as

1115
01:10:15,360 --> 01:10:21,160
your children, you have
entrusted us to be your

1116
01:10:21,160 --> 01:10:28,400
ambassadors, to be the ones to
carry the good news, your good

1117
01:10:28,400 --> 01:10:34,000
news, the message of salvation
to the world, to people in our

1118
01:10:34,000 --> 01:10:39,800
family, our friends, our
coworkers, to people that we

1119
01:10:39,800 --> 01:10:43,960
meet randomly.
And God, my prayer is that you

1120
01:10:43,960 --> 01:10:51,560
empower us to believe that that
is your calling to every born

1121
01:10:51,560 --> 01:10:57,360
again believer.
Empower us to live engaging in

1122
01:10:57,360 --> 01:11:00,240
the mission of the Great
Commission.

1123
01:11:00,240 --> 01:11:05,000
There's no greater excitement
then sharing the gospel with

1124
01:11:05,000 --> 01:11:10,960
people, planning, watering
seeds, and especially when God

1125
01:11:10,960 --> 01:11:16,120
you, you, you choose us to share
the gospel and give the increase

1126
01:11:16,760 --> 01:11:19,800
to say that person's soul
through our obedience to sharing

1127
01:11:19,800 --> 01:11:23,680
the gospel.
There's no greater excitement

1128
01:11:23,920 --> 01:11:29,040
that a human being could ever
fill than being used by use of

1129
01:11:29,040 --> 01:11:33,320
God.
Empower us to be about the

1130
01:11:33,320 --> 01:11:36,960
mission of the Great Commission.
We're living at a time where the

1131
01:11:36,960 --> 01:11:39,480
world is the darkest it's ever
been.

1132
01:11:39,720 --> 01:11:45,440
Use us to carry your light and
give hope to a lost and dying

1133
01:11:45,680 --> 01:11:47,680
world.
Father, I'm proclaiming that

1134
01:11:47,680 --> 01:11:49,600
you're going to do that.
I'm declaring that you're going

1135
01:11:49,600 --> 01:11:52,960
to do that for everyone watching
and listening now.

1136
01:11:53,480 --> 01:11:56,600
So, Father, use us for your
glory.

1137
01:11:57,520 --> 01:11:59,640
I pray that in the name of
Jesus, Amen.

1138
01:12:00,880 --> 01:12:02,920
Amen.
Amen.

1139
01:12:04,800 --> 01:12:06,960
Mark.
Thanks for walking us all

1140
01:12:06,960 --> 01:12:09,280
through that.
Absolutely appreciate.

1141
01:12:09,280 --> 01:12:11,040
That man.
Thanks for the opportunity,

1142
01:12:11,640 --> 01:12:15,360
100%.
We got one final question for

1143
01:12:15,360 --> 01:12:18,160
you.
So tell us, how has your life

1144
01:12:18,160 --> 01:12:21,120
changed as a result of all of
this?

1145
01:12:22,280 --> 01:12:25,280
Wow.
Man, I love that question.

1146
01:12:31,080 --> 01:12:36,200
Man, I have peace.
That cannot be explained, man.

1147
01:12:36,200 --> 01:12:40,480
I can't even.
I can't even explain the peace

1148
01:12:40,480 --> 01:12:50,280
that I'll walk in, man, to know
that God saved me from a near

1149
01:12:50,280 --> 01:12:56,160
death and he's using me to bring
hope to people that were

1150
01:12:56,160 --> 01:12:59,520
hopeless like I once was.
Man, I have.

1151
01:12:59,960 --> 01:13:06,920
I have joy that only comes from
one place, man, from from Jesus.

1152
01:13:08,600 --> 01:13:12,040
And man.
I never wanted to get married.

1153
01:13:13,400 --> 01:13:17,800
God has brought my wife into my
life.

1154
01:13:17,800 --> 01:13:24,760
Her name is Tiffany and never
did I know that being in a

1155
01:13:24,760 --> 01:13:29,280
relationship with a person,
being married to a person,

1156
01:13:29,640 --> 01:13:35,120
devoting my life to serve her
and to care for her.

1157
01:13:36,280 --> 01:13:41,240
Never did I ever think it was
possible that you can experience

1158
01:13:41,240 --> 01:13:45,720
love with someone.
And knowing that God has brought

1159
01:13:45,720 --> 01:13:51,840
her into my life to, to man.
I totally believe that He

1160
01:13:51,840 --> 01:13:56,680
created us to be together, you
know, and to know that he's

1161
01:13:56,680 --> 01:14:03,840
called me man to be a pastor of
a church to where I can love his

1162
01:14:03,840 --> 01:14:08,160
children and care for the flock
that he's entrusted me with.

1163
01:14:08,640 --> 01:14:12,720
That he pitched a burning desire
in my heart to continue to reach

1164
01:14:12,720 --> 01:14:20,600
people like me who had no clue
that a.

1165
01:14:20,600 --> 01:14:25,360
Creator existed and.
That how much he loves them, how

1166
01:14:25,360 --> 01:14:28,840
much he wants them to know.
And that there is hope.

1167
01:14:29,600 --> 01:14:34,240
There's hope in this life and
there's hope beyond this life

1168
01:14:34,240 --> 01:14:41,840
and eternity to be able to be
counted worthy, to be used by

1169
01:14:41,840 --> 01:14:45,240
him.
I've just, I'm blown away, man.

1170
01:14:45,400 --> 01:14:52,560
I'm blown away that he would use
someone like me to carry the

1171
01:14:52,560 --> 01:14:55,720
message of hope to the world.
And look, Mick, I'm blown away

1172
01:14:55,720 --> 01:14:57,680
that I get to be a part of that
everyday.

1173
01:14:57,960 --> 01:15:01,840
This world, man, this world,
people are hurting.

1174
01:15:02,120 --> 01:15:07,320
People are are are dying.
People want to know the truth.

1175
01:15:07,320 --> 01:15:08,720
People want to know what love
is.

1176
01:15:08,720 --> 01:15:12,720
People don't even they don't
even believe that love exists.

1177
01:15:13,440 --> 01:15:16,360
And man, I don't even remember
your question.

1178
01:15:16,360 --> 01:15:21,200
Man, how has your life changed?
It's changed.

1179
01:15:21,200 --> 01:15:27,200
In every facet.
And man, I used to be a guy that

1180
01:15:27,200 --> 01:15:29,600
hated, I used to be a guy that
hated people.

1181
01:15:29,600 --> 01:15:33,480
Man, I used to guy that I used
to be a guy that loved or hurt

1182
01:15:33,480 --> 01:15:36,760
people.
And God has redeemed that he's

1183
01:15:36,760 --> 01:15:39,720
turned that around.
And I mean, I, I love people

1184
01:15:39,720 --> 01:15:44,360
now, you know, I absolutely love
people and I value people.

1185
01:15:44,680 --> 01:15:50,640
I love them so much man, that I
can't stop sharing Jesus with a

1186
01:15:50,640 --> 01:15:54,320
man and my life's changed.
He's changed my life in every

1187
01:15:54,320 --> 01:16:00,360
single way imaginable, man.
It's just every second of every

1188
01:16:00,680 --> 01:16:04,720
day is a gift from God.
If I had to sum it up, man, I

1189
01:16:04,720 --> 01:16:11,280
would say I walk and just
supernatural peace every day

1190
01:16:12,160 --> 01:16:16,720
that I never even thought
existed, you know, and.

1191
01:16:19,320 --> 01:16:22,640
I just found that amazing and.
I'll walk in the power of the

1192
01:16:22,640 --> 01:16:26,280
spirit of the living God to
carry his message to as many

1193
01:16:26,280 --> 01:16:31,160
people as I possibly can so that
they can receive the gift that

1194
01:16:31,160 --> 01:16:36,240
he's given me, My wife, you and
so many other people.

1195
01:16:36,240 --> 01:16:38,960
That's what they're looking for,
man, You know, he's changed

1196
01:16:38,960 --> 01:16:42,840
everything about my life.
And I just I, I, I thank God and

1197
01:16:42,840 --> 01:16:46,120
I praise God that I'm a holy man
and I'm a righteous man.

1198
01:16:46,880 --> 01:16:49,960
And where he's brought me from
where he's brought me to, I've

1199
01:16:49,960 --> 01:16:51,360
got a long way to go, my
brother.

1200
01:16:51,360 --> 01:16:55,520
But where he's got me now,
everything about my life, man, I

1201
01:16:55,520 --> 01:16:57,960
didn't even think it was, it was
possible, man.

1202
01:16:57,960 --> 01:17:02,840
So, yeah, he's changed my life
in every single facet, man.

1203
01:17:03,760 --> 01:17:07,680
Yeah. 100% track on that, Mark.
Yeah, thanks.

1204
01:17:08,680 --> 01:17:12,960
Well, tell us a little bit more
about Evangelism on Fire and how

1205
01:17:12,960 --> 01:17:15,800
folks can get a little bit more
information about the work that

1206
01:17:15,800 --> 01:17:18,120
you're doing carrying the
Gospel.

1207
01:17:18,440 --> 01:17:21,440
Yeah, Evangelism on.
FIRE is a ministry, but we have

1208
01:17:21,440 --> 01:17:24,600
a podcast.
You could find us on every

1209
01:17:24,600 --> 01:17:27,600
podcast podcast platform out
there.

1210
01:17:27,760 --> 01:17:30,520
Just search evangelism on fire
with Mark Thomas.

1211
01:17:30,760 --> 01:17:35,320
And what I do is I teach you to
live your most exciting life by

1212
01:17:35,320 --> 01:17:39,400
actively sharing your faith in
Jesus with others.

1213
01:17:39,840 --> 01:17:43,160
You know, one big reason why
people don't share their faith

1214
01:17:43,160 --> 01:17:48,240
is because the pastors of
churches don't do a good enough

1215
01:17:48,240 --> 01:17:51,080
job of teaching their flock on
how to share the faith.

1216
01:17:51,080 --> 01:17:52,560
Again, you don't know what you
don't know.

1217
01:17:53,040 --> 01:17:57,080
So I saw a gap there and I'm
filling that gap.

1218
01:17:57,280 --> 01:18:02,040
Just go to Evangelism on Fire
podcast, any podcast platform,

1219
01:18:02,320 --> 01:18:06,000
find that subscribe to that.
We have weekly episodes.

1220
01:18:06,000 --> 01:18:08,840
I'm doing my best.
I'm doing my best to to coach

1221
01:18:08,840 --> 01:18:12,960
people on learning what the
Great Commission is and how to

1222
01:18:13,680 --> 01:18:17,400
share the gospel message.
So yeah, YouTube.

1223
01:18:17,640 --> 01:18:19,960
Find Evangelism on Fire with
Mark Thomas.

1224
01:18:19,960 --> 01:18:24,240
Go to YouTube and go to our
Evangelism on fire.com.

1225
01:18:24,440 --> 01:18:26,840
We've got an amazing community.
Go there.

1226
01:18:27,000 --> 01:18:32,000
Join our community for daily
resources for monthly

1227
01:18:32,000 --> 01:18:34,920
newsletters.
That's where you will.

1228
01:18:35,040 --> 01:18:39,360
You will find me in my podcast.
Yeah, awesome.

1229
01:18:39,760 --> 01:18:45,400
Thanks a bunch, man.
Mark, it has been incredible to

1230
01:18:45,400 --> 01:18:49,840
hear how God has delivered.
So thank you for sharing it.

1231
01:18:49,840 --> 01:18:52,920
Thank you for giving us
transparency that we could see

1232
01:18:53,520 --> 01:18:58,280
what was happening and, and the
back story that led up to all of

1233
01:18:58,280 --> 01:19:02,920
it and the transformation laying
there on the floor and in the

1234
01:19:02,920 --> 01:19:06,920
back of a police cruiser.
I mean, it's and even on the

1235
01:19:06,920 --> 01:19:10,560
street prior to that.
So thanks a bunch for sharing,

1236
01:19:10,560 --> 01:19:12,800
Mark.
We genuinely appreciate it, man.

1237
01:19:13,400 --> 01:19:15,400
Well, thank you for the.
Opportunity.

1238
01:19:15,600 --> 01:19:17,400
I appreciate you more than you
know, Mick.

1239
01:19:21,040 --> 01:19:23,640
Was it coincidence?
Or God.

1240
01:19:24,160 --> 01:19:28,920
You decide for yourself, but I
believe you just heard a story

1241
01:19:28,920 --> 01:19:32,880
for His glory.
When You Look is powered by

1242
01:19:32,880 --> 01:19:36,400
stories just like this and yours
could be next.

1243
01:19:36,800 --> 01:19:41,000
Go to whenyoulook.com/be a guest
or use the link in the

1244
01:19:41,000 --> 01:19:45,000
description below.
Drop us a comment and share this

1245
01:19:45,000 --> 01:19:47,120
episode with somebody that needs
it.

1246
01:19:47,680 --> 01:19:51,880
Until next time, thanks a bunch
for listening and watching, and

1247
01:19:51,880 --> 01:19:52,680
God bless.