Transformative Power of God's Grace in Recovery

"we're here with every brown amen and we're glad to be able to be with you and to be able to highlight your story because I think when people hear the journey that God is taking you through that they'll be encouraged and see that there is hope no matter where their situation is and where they're starting from that that God gives hope he gets victory and they give deliverance because you can't experience all of that so it's good to be with you thank you" [00:13:50]

"this has been a lifelong journey I've been um stronghold bound for 38 years 38 38 years uh I first started doing drugs in I was 14 15 and it progressed and got worse and worse and worse but um the major part with me was um I was in a rehab one time a lady told me I would never get sober until I identified with what I was going through and um one thing that I had did identify which was approval addiction I wanted people to like me I wanted to be like 20 part the crowd and that puts detrimental to me because it had me doing all kind of things that worked one write was out of character but um I feel good now that I found out that um it was all screwed and I say that lightly but is very heavy because it was all as good as something that was speeding me up let him know was there" [00:44:26]

"so the meetings wasn't working none of that stuff was working but some kind of way when I listen to your message that day and I know right now today I've heard that message about seventy times seven zero seven zero but I still listen to it but it helps me because you says something about what you do to help somebody death that's how you up youth so the more I help me people to my new the better I was getting further away from the whole lifestyle was giving me so I felt better doing that but this was wicked it was very wicked my lifestyle was very wicked and I felt like you said you're not God you're Tony Evans but you helped me immensely well thank you one God one God Missy because I can if my wife would show you i put the earphones in put on a message and that could pick play continuously next message next messages and i wake up three or four o'clock in the morning and you'll be talking about fasi or the next thing you'll be talking about something else and then be drilled in my brain but what you drilled into me was that this is all spiritual is not natural we can't beat it up without fists we can't do anything with it" [03:35:20]

"the encouraging part of what you're saying to me now is that the word of god works all mine cuz because you were hearing the word of god we have met yet no and and yet the the word of god coming through through i guess was a CD no I have your oh yeah okay okay so ever stack of CDs but mostly they're listening and night is on the app okay and so and you know that's I hate you every day and oh so we hang out daily hang out very it's amazing how you work and get down in your heart you're done in your spirit and if you want it if you accept it it's coming for you so what kind of drugs were you doing I basically crack cocaine crack cocaine okay but I'm gonna tell you something doctor crack cocaine cigarettes for forty years and a very little lifestyle but my biggest stronghold was well - my biggest with pornography and approval addiction I wanted people to like me okay so let me ask this question you hear the tape you find out that you start with the spiritual you know my big statement is everything visible and physical is preceded by something invisible and spiritual so if you want to deal with the visible physical you got to address the invisible spiritual you said you even though you see what you see you have yet seen all the all you see is what you see you do not see all there is a B so you said that twice as there were the two services and that was wonderful because it's a lot to see it's like I'm looking for I'm searching for" [04:58:46]

"so now you hear the word you hear that in spiritual and as I understand it this led you to a place to help take you further in your victory tell us tell me about that let me to a place um and let me to get down on my knees I'm possible graduated went to college I didn't I wanted peace other dreams but I read right like the normal person in the United States puts up I don't like to read I've came more from it's an audio-visual let's see you know I came more from that so uh just led me to a place I'm reading them yeah I have a book from you no more excuses no one-sided books in 2001 when James Brown was with Fox okay California he did book there can i he said I can have it Tony Ellis handbook ten years never read it I read it recently so but I knew with no more excuses let's take me to another level I know there's God okay then one of the messages I mentioned a place American Kazakh tell me about that tell me about the circus Kazakh was like no other place I've ever been is right now spin their 100 in 23 years helping people with drug addictions or strong hopes as I put it in though they have a series they have like 6 chaplains there and you get assigned a chaplain but it's something the woods in New Jersey to Pineville and no TV we saw one movie a week three squares a day you got a little little work there's not about the work though it's all about they got you through the Bible slowly but surely they give us scriptures we have to memorize every day and you got to come and quote the scripture before your peers and you don't have a right these guys will set you back but this place was very very helpful to me because it gave me a chance to not read so much but to focus on what God was doing in my life and be sick and tired of being sick and tired and then knowing that they said I want to bring Tony over they said no you can't happen but all you need your Bible and I saw the other half we did no meet he's no 12-step none of that all we did was the Bible and his a word to me and miss Sylvia said this morning but God what God was there and God came in there like a flood and he stayed there and seen in my heart and uh Wow America's cuz it was real well the reason that I brought that up because I had sent some other people there because of their view of the work yeah and so the the word the word was is so focused on there they believe the word by itself can produce transformation and so that I resonated because of my confidence and the written word of God and so to hear your story that they just are you gonna tell me my story no no you're talking about Lazarus Lazarus come out right they had to move the stone they had to move so you got to do some work so when he said that was come on he called him by name but he said move the stone but you said when Lazarus came out chuckling and I've heard people get caught up into or was he sadness but you didn't get you need company that you got caught up in the hey the Word of God brought him out well then you told me it was the last miracle Jesus performed before he was crucified I didn't know that so things that you put in little tidbits if I listen to it over and over again but you said but God when I went to Kazik they were I was smoking cigarettes doing drugs watching pornography chasing women up and down the street marry to a beautiful wife one chasing her but all that stopped in one instance Wow I have not looked bad but God took that away from me and because I believe in what you was saying and you you you you you you told it to me but you also took me in a word and showed me and once you did that like I have nothing to do but believe that was America's cousin well you know it is so encouraging to me because sometimes I do wonder is the word making a difference people just listening to sermons so when I hear live real stories of people who've been delivered from something that that held you hostage for 38 years 38 years and God on a dying woman turns it around I mean that that is that is polished this way to doing kissing you come in they have a chest with cigarettes TEFL drugs okay when you come out from outside they test you I went in I had done drugs for two weeks I went in and tested dirty and I know I hadn't done anything but the lady before someone looked at me and said I believe intense I said I know you do and it was her decision but she got me in and I see never regret it and so if you were if you were talking to somebody else who was in the situation you're in or a similar situation what would you say to them coming out of your own experience at render Wow surrender I mean I can't do anything I'm not in control of nothing everything I did I felt that on my face when I surrendered Wow so God has turned every a lot of things around and now you're married to a beautiful wife from Brazil yes we have a home in Pikesville muhrlin your hosts stomping ground yep so what do you hope to do with the rest of your life never mind this new journey on this new journey I would like to help other people I mean the more I help Joe Blow and Sally Jo and what I found out helping other people it's all kind of problems everybody's got a problem just now drugs so a lot of things didn't a strong although was supposed to get worse strongholds don't care who you are where you come from money to his daughter care about his final up and I'm I'm learning my thing to Kingdom men in the kingdom life what with the lease button it's a release button somewhere release button that I can send the right words or showing the right things or watch my walk watch my walk and to put out there like and I was I was I was they gotta hide anyone nobody see me but now I don't care ok so you're not fighting for that acceptance anymore no that was the biggest thing I had to get rid of approval addiction and at one time I was in rehab in Tampa Florida one of my eight and the lady this elderly lady he was a major with Salvation Army and she slammed a book on the table I said she you realize what you're doing you're gonna always suffer from that addiction and I didn't like that you can go through life and I know you're calling and go to life and I know what's wrong with you you go through life and not know what's going on when you find out hmm like a light switch game on so you got this new life now you have some health challenges that your relative Sal tell me about those oh let me start with some I have a list I gave you guys a couple of yesterday but I have a condition called my Phineas gravis it deals with the hot immune deficiency part of your body autoimmune system and it controls the muscles in your body everything's controlled and right now my jacket my eyes so I'm not on steroids or another medicine called paradis demean if my eyes go crossed I can't see I was taking my wife down see the cherry blossoms in couldn't see the labs in the streets ready to pull over if someone can give me next condition would be my bladder cat scan said okay visa goes here urologist and have a città Skippy when he grew up in your bladder and look at it that's looking because the bladder defeated bladder but it's inside with the father work and look like cauliflower and he said there's a tumors and be worn for years and they cut him out but under the tumors were the cancer and his flats end up all around the walls on my bladder okay we go from the Eric's new mom and I have to have bladder surgery to do with that go from there to dab them to keep diabetic trying to keep my diabetes under control um I'll take insulin I'll take a needle five six times a day every day just to remain normal um we go from the diabetes to uh I have heart problem an open artery triple bypass I have something called a field right now which is rapid heartbeat and that feels like heart exactly but it's not as bumpy and it can kill you because it's gonna create blood clots when I had my open-heart surgery my blood pressure dropped low and I had a stroke and no not walk talk just normal function again look I went from a wheelchair to a walker a wheelchair or crutches to walker to a cane and then was this thing started back remise back to a cane again but um I'm free I think what I feel pretty good today who knows what tomorrow but I feel pretty good that's just most feel my conditions but you know what I think all this is a spiritual attack from Satan and when I talk to your people and she said um we're gonna bring you down and would you like hair prayer yeah when the helper and I going yesterday and I'm looking around I see 15 guys and black suits coming around me to lay hands on me man I feel free Wow good that's a little bit about conditions medical conditions well it's it's it's been a joy to begin the process of getting to know you to hear your story and to hear how God where he's brought you from and even though you still have challenges you still say you're free so that is a that is an amazing thing all these problems and you're free at the same time yeah that's great so we are honored that you spent this time with us and we look forward to to seeing what God's going to do next because you said you said two things you said one the fact that you minister to other people helped deliver you and now when I asked you what do you want to do with the rest of your life you said you want to help other people and nothing will make you freer than God using you to be a blessing while you're waiting for a blessing you're experiencing a blessing so thank you for allowing us to be part of your life and thank you for allowing God's Word to infiltrate your life because when people hear your story they will see hope for their story and if your story gives hope for their story you will have ministered to other people so thank you" [06:56:09]