Loading summary
Transcript287 lines
- [00:00]
A
This is an iHeart podcast.
- [00:02]
B
Guaranteed Human.
- [00:04]
C
Why should you listen to Armstrong and Getty on Demand? We're not boring. A lot of news is boring and tedious and depressing. It makes you angry. You don't want to live your life like that. Hey, I'm Jack Armstrong.
- [00:16]
D
He's Joe Getty.
- [00:17]
C
We're Armstrong and Getty. We try to bring you the truth and help you figure out this crazy modern world.
- [00:21]
E
How about something about a comedic tone?
- [00:26]
C
We have a winner.
- [00:27]
F
Yes.
- [00:28]
C
Listen to Armstrong and Getty on Demand on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [00:34]
E
What God Started in My Life he's
- [00:37]
C
going to finish the Joel Osteen Daily Podcast.
- [00:39]
D
Surely goodness and mercy will follow me
- [00:42]
F
all the days of my life. What was meant for my harm?
- [00:45]
E
Lord, I want to thank you.
- [00:46]
D
Right now you're turning to my advantage,
- [00:48]
C
your daily source of hope and encouragement.
- [00:51]
F
Your second wind is on its way.
- [00:54]
D
God is about to breathe on your
- [00:55]
F
life in a new way.
- [00:57]
C
Listen to the Joel Osteen Daily podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts and wherever you get your favorite podcast.
- [01:06]
B
Hey guys, lady Luck here. Are you going on any road trips this summer? I know I'm going to be going on a bunch of road trips and being that I'm going to be Passenger Princess, I Love playing on Spinquest.com Spinquest has all of my favorite slot games. Live Blackjack, live craps. Head on over to Spin Quest right now and get yourself a $30 coin pack for just 10 bucks.
- [01:29]
E
Spin quest is a free to play social casino void where prohibited. Visit spinquest.com for more details.
- [01:35]
C
High interest debt is one of the toughest opponents you'll face unless you power up with a SOFI personal loan. A Sofi personal loan could repackage your bad debt into one low fixed rate monthly payment. It's even got super speed since you could get the funds as soon as the same day you sign. Visit sofi.compower to learn more. That's S-O-Fi.com p o w e r loans originated by Sofi bank and a member FDIC. Terms and conditions apply. MLS 696891.
- [02:30]
F
So what does it take to break the power of hell over your life? And can you experience true freedom? Well, with the help of our special guest, you're going to hear firsthand what God did in his life, what he can do in your life, and how he's going to share this story with all of us today. But first, joining me around the Table is April Simons. How are you? I'm doing great. Life changing testimonies. It is good. Anybody watching, if they feel hopeless after hearing this, they're not going to feel hopeless. There's always hope.
- [02:57]
B
And you know, hope has a name
- [02:58]
F
and it's Jesus to help anybody.
- [03:00]
G
That's right.
- [03:01]
F
And the message is true in that we have witnessed how many testimonies around this table. Oh, so many have changed lives. People who wanted to give up on life and give up on their purpose and give up on everything. And that's why you need to keep watching, because the Lord's going to speak to you through this testimony today that he's not through with you. He's not through with you, Dorothy.
- [03:21]
G
That's right. Hello.
- [03:22]
F
How are you?
- [03:23]
G
I'm good. Good.
- [03:24]
F
How are the grandbabies? How are you? Doing really good.
- [03:27]
G
Doing really good.
- [03:28]
F
She has a girl and a boy.
- [03:29]
G
Yes, yes. Four months and a year old. And they are just growing. Precious. I never, ever dreamed of what it would be like. It's the most beautiful thing on earth.
- [03:39]
F
Rachel Ann Brown, my daughter, how are you?
- [03:41]
B
I'm good. I'm eight months out from having a baby.
- [03:45]
F
Little Noah is crawling everywhere.
- [03:47]
A
Yes.
- [03:47]
B
But he's army crawling. So we're working on.
- [03:49]
F
He's army crawling.
- [03:50]
B
Proper crawling.
- [03:51]
G
Army crawling.
- [03:52]
F
Let him army crawl, Mom. Let him army crawl. It's okay. And a Kindle.
- [03:55]
D
Yes.
- [03:56]
F
Joanie, do you remember the days when your son was young? Probably.
- [03:59]
A
Oh, I do.
- [04:00]
B
I do, I do, I do.
- [04:01]
F
I remember all those days. But, you know, April and I were talking about being a grandmother, and there is something so different about grandparenting, and
- [04:10]
E
there's no way you can know it
- [04:11]
F
until you've experienced it. Yes, it's true. Cindy Murdoch. How are you? I'm doing great. I actually got an amazing shot of joy and all of that being with the. You got to be with your family recently and be with the grandbabies and the grandkids. I get rejuvenated, excited. You do. It carries me for a little longer till I see him again. That's right. That's right. For sure. Well, he is the founder and pastor of Freedom City Church, and he's here to talk about the messages from his book. Let my people go. Please welcome our dear friend, Pastor Jason Lozano. Here he comes.
- [04:47]
E
All right, all right.
- [04:48]
A
Welcome.
- [04:48]
F
I love that.
- [04:49]
E
I love that introduction.
- [04:50]
F
Yes, yes.
- [04:51]
A
How are you?
- [04:52]
E
Doing great.
- [04:53]
F
Are you. You know, when you meet Jason, he's such a sweet, gentle, kind spirit. This is a transformed person, y'. All. When you hear about what he used to do and who he is today, only God. Only God. You know, the Bible says that the gates of hell will not be able to stand against those whose hope and faith rest in the revelation of Jesus Christ. But what does that look like? Well, Jason experienced this truth in his own life, and he's here to tell us how God brought him freedom and is doing the same for people all over Los Angeles and beyond, because he has a great church there in Los Angeles. But welcome back to the table.
- [05:33]
E
Yes. I love this table.
- [05:34]
C
Good to see you again.
- [05:34]
E
All you beautiful ladies.
- [05:35]
F
It's always so good to see you.
- [05:36]
E
I've been watching. She came up on my YouTube channel, so me and my wife been watching you on your YouTube channel, so.
- [05:41]
A
Oh, that's awesome.
- [05:42]
F
That's awesome. Well, let's just go back to the beginning. You were born into a home.
- [05:49]
E
Yes. You were born into a normal home at first. And then my dad went off to the war, and like so many young men did, he saw things probably, you know, worse, bad. It's horrible. So he over there was asked to do things, and something happened to him because he came back addicted. And he didn't come back the same.
- [06:15]
F
Very traumatized by what he saw. Because people, like when you say people you have a drug problem, have an alcohol problem, a lot of times that's an addiction that they have attached to, to keep from feeling the pain of something they went through.
- [06:30]
B
As usual, it's a symptom.
- [06:32]
E
It's a symptom. And so. And that symptom, it separated them, my mom and dad. So then I would go to my dad's house on the weekends, and then I'd go to. I would be my mom all week going to school and my dad, you know, it was wild over there. So I like to go. It was like a ranch living. And so I liked it. It was wild. We were little kids running around. And then on the weekends, and then on the weekdays, I'd go home. But one weekend around Christmas time, my dad dropped me off with all these presents and told me, I'll see you next week, son. And so I waited the next week, my little backpack ready to go. But he never showed up. Not ever.
- [07:14]
F
I'm 49, so how devastating was that for you?
- [07:19]
E
Even today? It brings up emotion, but not because it's like sad. It's just, God's the father. But I just. It's so devastating. I never want anyone to go through that.
- [07:30]
G
Yes.
- [07:31]
E
Because everybody should have a dad, you
- [07:33]
F
know, that's Took your hope away.
- [07:34]
E
Yeah. It was hopeless. And then as a child, how do you process that?
- [07:38]
F
And how old were you at that point?
- [07:40]
E
Seven.
- [07:40]
F
You were seven. Okay. So then your mom remarries.
- [07:45]
E
Yeah. And no, she didn't remarry.
- [07:47]
F
Okay.
- [07:47]
E
She lived with the man for 17 years. And he. He was very, very abusive. Extremely. To her and to us. And mainly me, because I think I reminded him of my dad. So he targeted me.
- [08:05]
B
Why do you think she stayed with him for so long?
- [08:07]
E
Fear of being alone. Fear of being alone. And then he would put. Like, when she wanted to go to church, he would put a.357 Magnum in her mouth and say, I'll blow your head off. Because she was. He was afraid she would meet a man, which his fear came upon him because she did go to church and she did meet a man. But the reality was he was psycho. He was psychotic. He would burn, like, he would get cigars and burn cigars in his arms.
- [08:30]
G
You see all this?
- [08:31]
C
Yes.
- [08:32]
E
It was traumatic. And he would shoot the gun off in the middle of the night every Christmas. It wasn't normal, man. Every Christmas was never normal. Like, he would just get the Christmas tree and throw it outside, and we'd have to be out there picking up all the ornaments. I mean, that's.
- [08:49]
F
That's.
- [08:49]
E
As a kid, you're not supposed to see that. And then every Thanksgiving, he'd break all the china, and it was just like, holes in the wall. It was a madness. It was a. It was a. It was like a madness. Crazy making. It was crazy. And he was a big man, so it made me, like, fearless, Kind of like, if I can survive this guy, everyone else is like, nothing.
- [09:08]
F
So how old were you, I guess, when you kind of struck out on your own to do your own thing and got involved in a lot of stuff.
- [09:13]
E
I was always a good kid because my mom knew God, so she always, like, taught us about God. And my grandma was a Christian, so she'd take us to church when I was a little kid. And then the bus would come, like, the bus ministry, and they take. They'd pick us up and they'd take us to the church. So I knew the Lord. But then when I was in junior high, I was always troubled, but I was always like, I knew the Lord, you know, I was a good kid. But then at 12, I turned my back on the Lord and I made a decision to do that, and it was the worst decision of my life.
- [09:43]
F
And so what did you get involved in?
- [09:45]
E
I got involved. Well, like entry drugs, you know, just like marijuana and all that. And then it went from there to full on meth and then dealing and then manufacturing and then. And then.
- [09:57]
A
So you got into the whole business
- [09:59]
E
manufacturing and dealing and part of making methamphetamine, which makes you evil at a young age. Yeah. Because you can't make meth unless you lock yourself in a room. While you're in that room, you're the source. Like, you're the source of blessing, you're the source of evil. So you. That's where I got demon possessed.
- [10:18]
F
And you actually got caught and went to prison.
- [10:23]
E
When I was a child and when I was a teenager, I was shipped off at 14 to youth correctional and then in and out of jail from then on. So it was like a seven year period. You were just a mess, like fully demon possessed.
- [10:40]
B
Did jail not deter you from wanting to do that?
- [10:43]
E
Jail was the worst thing for me because I wasn't a hardened criminal. So even though I was raised in abuse, my stepdad wasn't gangster. Yeah, he was just abusive. But in jail, you met the gangsters and. And you can't survive, like, without being a gangster. So I'm in there, hey, dude. And they're like, hey, dude. I'm like, oh, my God. And I switched. Like I said, my every. Everything changed. And that spirit, that, that. And it's a spirit, that gangster spirit jumped. It just changed me.
- [11:14]
F
Yeah.
- [11:14]
E
And it changed my voice, my vocabulary. It created a. A fake personality.
- [11:18]
F
To survive.
- [11:19]
E
To survive. But then I liked it because it was power.
- [11:22]
F
Wow. Okay, so you. I don't want to stay there because we want to get you saved.
- [11:27]
E
Okay.
- [11:27]
F
Yeah, it's all in the book. Yeah, it's all in the book.
- [11:31]
E
It's funny too. It's got a lot of funny stories. All the details.
- [11:34]
F
All the details. But your mother, actually, you talked about how she met a really nice man and they started serving the Lord together. She got married.
- [11:44]
E
She tried to break away from him, my stepfather. Well, he wasn't my stepdad, but, you know, he raised us a lot of times, but he would always. It was like. It was awful because he'd find us. And then it was like this ugly feeling when he'd come back. And finally she broke away. Like, she. She like relocated. He never knew where. Where we were. And then she started going to a church. Well, that's where she met what we know as Pastor Dwayne. He's my dad. I don't believe in stepdads. You either are or you're not. You gonna take care of me or not? So they started going to Bible college and serving God.
- [12:19]
F
He was good.
- [12:21]
E
He is good. He was good, is good, and forever will be good. He's amazing. Like, he's Pastor Dwayne. He's one of our pastors, and everyone loves him.
- [12:29]
G
Are you happy for your mom, too?
- [12:31]
E
Yeah. Oh, yeah. And if you see her, she's, like, different. She's like. She was older looking back then. Cause she's beautiful.
- [12:38]
F
I think we got a picture we can show you. She's beautiful. Okay. So.
- [12:42]
E
So then she.
- [12:43]
F
She remarries.
- [12:44]
E
Yeah. So they're getting the word. They're learning the word. And the pastors teaches this lesson. If you have a problem, find a promise. Well, there's a problem. That's an easy identifier.
- [12:56]
F
And then Jason was.
- [12:58]
C
And.
- [12:58]
E
And my. My sister was on methamphetamine.
- [13:01]
F
Oh, wow.
- [13:01]
E
On my methamphetamine. And my brother was on crack cocaine, which is horrible. Oh, my goodness. Yeah. It is a nightmare. And this is why condemnation has to be broken off people that are believing God. Because if people have made mistakes as parents or in any area, you can't believe God with a condemned heart.
- [13:20]
F
That's right.
- [13:21]
E
So I remember my mom there standing on the Word, and this is when something broke in me. She looked at me with love, sincerity, and kindness, but it was powerful. She said, son, I got over it. You need to get over it, too. And I knew my life's over. This criminal is. Because for whatever reason, that little. That statement just broke something off me. Like, oh, I can't control her anymore. I can't manipulate this thing. She's free. My mom's free. And she started declaring that word every single morning. And saw the power. I felt the power. It would go through the door. When they put their hands on the door, it would. It was like a smoke would come under the door. I could see it because I was in the spirit. It wasn't the Holy Spirit, but I was in the spirit. And that smoke would come under the door like that. And I knew if that thing touches me, it's going to weaken me. So I jump out the window.
- [14:15]
F
Wow. Okay, so there came an event that she invited you to.
- [14:18]
E
Yes.
- [14:19]
F
Tell us about what happened.
- [14:20]
E
Okay, so that Carmen concert.
- [14:21]
F
Carmen concert. Some of you don't know who Carmen is. He's with the Lord now.
- [14:27]
E
With the Lord. And when I get to heaven, all the people that go, he's going to get rewarded for that. When I get people saved. No. So my mom doesn't tell me it's Carmen because she's like, you know, she knows I won't go if it's a Christian concert. So she, I just say, mom, is there going to be a lot of lights? She says, a lot of lights, son. So I, I took some, I took acid, had this wild girl with me. We went all on acid and we're there, oh no. And I'm having a good time. She didn't lie, it was a concert with lights. But then, man, the pot, the father, the love of the father, just liquid love. And that was it. And I sobered up.
- [15:11]
F
You felt the love of God. You felt the tangible presence of God,
- [15:14]
E
the love of the Father God, Abba, Daddy, Papa. I didn't have that. I was looking for that. You know they say looking for love in all the wrong places. That was like the epitome of, of my problem. And then I just was like drawing me and I just ran. I don't remember everything going like a haze cuz I don't remember a lot from those days.
- [15:35]
F
Yeah,
- [15:37]
E
but I got out of my chair, they said, and I ran and I gave my life to the Lord that day. And then they took me in the back and these ladies, this little white haired ladies just jumped me, prayed for you. Sho me, they prayed, they got all
- [15:54]
F
this stuff off, they cast any bad spirits out.
- [15:57]
E
They got a lot of them. Yeah, they didn't get all of them but they got enough to where I can, I was able to start.
- [16:03]
F
There's something about the resting presence of God that even as we sit here and you tell your story, we can sense the presence of God here. And I know that you can sense the presence of God. Those of you that are watching right now. And you gotta move when God moves. And so Jason, I want you to just look into the camera and just pray the sinner's prayer with someone, lead someone to Jesus. We'll repeat it after you and give people watching an opportunity. Right now, some of you watching, you sense the presence of God so strong and the Lord is calling your name. I mean you have been looking, you have been searching and God is calling your name.
- [16:37]
E
Jason, if you're there, just say, open your heart. If you want to put your hand on your heart, I like to, that's special. Locate your heart and just say dear Lord Jesus, dear Lord Jesus. I believe, I believe you're the Son of God, that you died on the cross for my sins and have mercy on me and I ask you to come into my heart. Be my Lord, be my Savior, just take a deep breath, have a moment with that. That's a fresh start. You take that and you run with it. No man can give you a fresh start. Only God can give you a fresh start.
- [17:19]
F
Amen. You know, I shared this earlier because I love this part, especially for people who are watching. Said I've been praying for a son or daughter or family member or even maybe you've prayed yourself and you still have things hanging on that, you know, probably aren't from God that you're doing. I just want to encourage you that it's a process and God is working in your life. And I really encourage you to get in a good Bible believing church full of the Holy Spirit and get a Bible that you can read and surround yourself with the right kind of people. Your life is going to dramatically change. I know for you, Jason, that next step after you were saved, what's funny is you went and partied after he got saved. He was so excited. He didn't know anything.
- [18:02]
E
I was excited. I was so excited. I felt like I won the lottery. So I was like, I'll bring the keg, the girls, the beers, the drugs. And we partied like rock stars for two weeks. It was like a block party.
- [18:13]
F
You say, I got saved. We're going to celebrate.
- [18:15]
E
Yeah. And so they say, why we celebrate? Jason's saved. Now. They didn't know what that meant. Nobody knew what they meant. Getting high. And then about two weeks later is where, like, remember when Moses was on the mountain and he was. And he was full of the glory. And then it faded and so it was like fading. And that fading got me nervous because I didn't know where to get more of it.
- [18:38]
F
It's kind of like David, you know, when he said he knew he had sinned.
- [18:41]
E
Yeah.
- [18:42]
F
And he repented. He said, please don't take your holy Spirit.
- [18:45]
E
And I felt it leaving and I got so scared and. Because, oh, my God, that's. I mean, I was saved, you know, so that's when my mom approached me. She said, you know, you're struggling. She tells me, it's like, it was the weirdest thing. It's never happened to me since ever. My spirit spoke and it bypassed my mind.
- [19:07]
C
Wow.
- [19:07]
G
Yeah.
- [19:07]
F
Because she said, you're struggling.
- [19:09]
E
And I said, and my mind's like, don't say nothing. What are you doing? Because I trained myself to lie. And it's like, yes. And you want to go to, like, a recovery program. And I was like, yes. Are you going to go right now? Like, yeah, you'll sleep. No, that's a prideful person. You'll sleep on the floor. Like, still go floor? Yes. And I was in the home that day.
- [19:34]
F
You were in the home that day and that night. God set you up. And this is the thing about when you really open your heart to truth and receiving the Lord. God will open doors. Supernatural. He'll send people across your path. He'll make things happen that you're thinking, is this a coincidence? It's no coincidence. And when you got to this.
- [19:51]
E
Well, even before that was wild. I had a little bit of drugs left. So I said, might as well smoke the rest. Cause that's all. I can't wait. I got at least 30 days. I'm gonna have to be sober. I said, 30 days. So I'm doing getting high. And I heard the audible voice of God. And he told me, mijo, enough is enough. And I kept getting high. Oh, it was the drugs. I did drugs every day, all day. Then God never spoke to me. That was the voice of the Lord. And he spoke to me over and over. And I kept getting high because I was going to finish. As I was packing, he kept speaking to me. And that was the last day I ever did drugs. I went into the program and lo and behold, two of my best friends. I thought one was dead. Were in that program out of all the programs in the world. And it's out of the city because it was the Lord. And it was like.
- [20:46]
F
And they had been really messed up.
- [20:48]
E
I thought he was dead. One of them. But the thing was, he looked. When I saw my friend Billy Henriquez, he looked like an angel. He was, like, healthy. And I'd never seen Billy look like that. And just seeing him changed me. Seeing him, like the way he was made me go, whoa. Dad had to make hope spring alive. Hope, Whoa. If Billy can make it and Robert can make it, maybe I could. Now, I wasn't planning on serving the Lord like that. I was planning, in my mind, 30 days.
- [21:21]
F
Yeah. And what did it turn into?
- [21:24]
E
60 days. 90 days. Five years. 31 years later. 30 years later.
- [21:30]
F
Five years later. But the discipleship five years straight was so important during that time, you went to Bible school, you learned to read, you learned to write. God did so many supernatural things, preparing you for what you're doing today. Talk a little bit about that.
- [21:47]
E
It's amazing. That was a journey. That was a journey to learn how to read and write again, speak again. That was a journey. Because people don't realize, you know, sometimes they call them dual personalities. Things like this. But the truth was, it was a demon that gave me a personality. Now, I'm not gonna say everyone's like that. Just that was my case. So I had this gangster Persona. And when that evil spirit left, it was like the Little Mermaid, you know, Ursula. Remember, Ursula takes the voice. It took my ability to speak, to talk, to be around nice people like you. I couldn't. I was just weird. And even my pastor, he dealt with a lot of messed up people. He goes, he goes, this guy, I don't think he's going to make it. And I wouldn't have, but people loved me enough to take me in their home and raise me as their own. And then I had my Bible and I would just read it and I got my mind back and I got my ability to talk back. And it just changed everything.
- [22:55]
F
Supernatural power.
- [22:56]
E
It was a supernatural power of God and it changed my whole life.
- [23:00]
F
It changed your whole life.
- [23:01]
E
And that's why I want to help people. That's why we wrote the book. That's what it's about.
- [23:04]
F
Well, that's why you're doing what you're doing. We talked about 20 something years later, great church, thousands of people have been set free. And you can understand better than anyone about addiction and what it did to your life. Talk to that person right now.
- [23:18]
E
I don't even think it's just addiction. It was brokenness.
- [23:21]
F
Talk to that broken person right now.
- [23:22]
E
It's like the Bible says, the Lord is close to the brokenhearted. And it literally means to be shattered by grief. People go through loss, they get shattered, they go through fatherlessness, they go through traumatic stuff. My sister was abused. These things come and they're from the devil to break us. And when your heart's broken, it's. If you look at it in the Webster's, it's your spirit. It says it's your spirit's broken. And no man can put your spirit back together. Only God. Because he made your spirit. And God, if you give him the broken pieces of your heart, he's the only one that can put it back together. No man can do it. Only God. Therapists are amazing Christian counselors. I believe in all of it, but they're used by God. In the end of the day, it's God that can heal the broken hearted. And if your heart is broken, just understand if you give it to God, he'll put your life back together and he'll take what the devil meant for your evil. And somehow, some way, he'll turn it all around for the Good. And make you a blessing.
- [24:26]
G
Yes.
- [24:26]
E
To the nations.
- [24:27]
F
That's what he did for you. And he called you to pastor.
- [24:32]
E
Oh, man, that was funny.
- [24:33]
F
You did not want to do it. No.
- [24:34]
E
You kidding me? Pastoring is rough. It's hard on the soul. It's. And I saw my pastor, like, help all these people and then they like,
- [24:43]
F
stab him in the back, hit the
- [24:44]
E
church and talk about. I'm like, this guy loves you. He preaches. Yeah. You know, like, I'm out.
- [24:50]
C
Yeah.
- [24:50]
E
And I knew. I recognize it now. It was like a orphan spirit, like a root of rejection because I didn't want to get hurt anymore. So as an evangelist, which I love, you can go in, you can minister, and then kind of get out. And you don't have to, like, necessarily get beat up by everybody.
- [25:06]
F
You don't have to live with them.
- [25:07]
E
Right. So. But the Lord, I was in a season where I was just like, holy Spirit, what's wrong? Something's wrong. And so I sought the Lord in fasting for a couple days. And in that space, that's when the voice of the Lord came to me. He said, I heard the cries of the people of Whittier of Los Angeles. And I'm going to send you to the Pharaoh of Whittier to tell him to let my people go. You know what's interesting?
- [25:34]
F
To the Pharaoh of Whittier. To the Pharaoh of Los Angeles. Let our people.
- [25:39]
E
To the Pharaoh of America. To the Pharaoh of the nation.
- [25:43]
F
Yeah.
- [25:44]
E
Come on.
- [25:46]
F
So good. You said, yes.
- [25:47]
E
And I said finally, yeah, well, when he spoke to me, I said, I don't ever want to hurt the Lord. Like, you know, like, okay, whatever you want. When it comes to that, it's like, we're not whatever you need. You know, there's no arguing. So he said it, and I said, okay, of course I will. I said, so you want me to die for you, then I will. I didn't know you wanted me to die for you. He's like, because they want to kill me in the city, the gangs, they had to put a contract on my life. So I said, okay. He's like, no, no. They're all. Everyone that was after your life is dead. I'm going to protect you. Because of their lifestyle.
- [26:19]
C
Yeah.
- [26:20]
E
And he protected me when I went back and. And we started with eight people in my house, and then we. Then we did a little tiny little art lounge. And little by little started growing. And then. And I started church at 2 o' clock in the afternoon. Because I go all the people I Know won't go to church at 10 o'. Clock. So I started going to the nightclub, started evangelizing, and everyone was buzzed and drunk. And I was all like, hey, come to church. I'll give you soup menudo. Spanish soup menudo. And I asked advil. Just come. No, no. You know, just come as you are. So they were coming and it was. It was not like a church planning strategy. It was the raw power of God. And we just preach and people. It was wild and it was wild, wild, wild. And God just moved and it hadn't stopped growing.
- [27:09]
F
So today, what's going on?
- [27:12]
E
It's thousands of people. We just bought another city block.
- [27:15]
F
Wow.
- [27:16]
C
Wow.
- [27:18]
F
And how many groups do you have going?
- [27:20]
E
We have 500 home groups, almost 600 home groups. We have 932 groups a week. We have 160 teachings every Sunday. We have thousands and thousands and thousands of people. But it's about the one. It's about the one.
- [27:36]
F
What's the name?
- [27:37]
E
Freedom City Church. Yeah, it's a revival in la, you
- [27:40]
F
know, Freedom City Church. That's amazing. I'm sorry, guys. There was so much to tell on his. But, April, quickly, how do you. My favorite saying.
- [27:49]
B
Just because you didn't come from a
- [27:51]
F
healthy family doesn't mean a healthy family can't come from you. How'd you do it? And how can you tell people.
- [27:55]
E
People I think they can do. You have to be. You have to be strategic. So no one taught me how to be a husband. No one taught me how to be a dad. So I, I saw my pastor, and that was the model, the mentor. I think that's important. And then I like to read books every day. Like, I read books on health. I read books on marriage. I read books on parenting.
- [28:13]
B
Excellent.
- [28:14]
E
I so love that vision. Books on leadership, books on finance, like business. So I believe in education, like, and, and, and, and reading and doing reading and doing well.
- [28:24]
F
We are out of time from this incredible story. I want you to know that whatever struggles you're facing, I don't know that you could have ever done any worse than what Jason did. Okay, so you see what God did for him. You have to know he's going to do the same for you. Because he's no respecter of persons. I'm just kidding you, Jason.
- [28:42]
E
Oh, it's true.
- [28:43]
F
It's true.
- [28:44]
E
Honestly, the reason the Lord chooses people like that is to take away everyone's excuses.
- [28:48]
F
I'm telling you. That's right. Because you don't have any excuse. You can experience freedom and you can experience victory just as Jason has. Just as all of us sitting here, God wants to do a delivering work in your life today. That's the presence of God that's sitting on top of you right now as you watch this as he's saying I love you. Now just open your heart and receive what I have for you right now. And if you're watching and you're ready for the Lord to break hell off of your life because some of you have been living in hell, then I want you to call that number on the screen. We have wonderful prayer partners that are standing by ready to pray with you. It's our honor to do so. Write down the number, call it later if you happen to get a busy signal or you can't get through. Sometimes we just get an entourage to so many calls. But write down the number and let us pray with you, encourage you today. But I do want to thank Jason for sharing his story with us. You definitely want to pick up a copy of his book Let My People Go. It tells his whole story. It's available now and for more you can visit him online@jasonluzanu.org let us know how today's Table Talk touched your life. Let us know if you prayed that prayer. I want to send you a free book entitled now what, what do I do now that I've done this? Because God has so much more for you. And you say, well, there's a lot of darkness. There's a lot of light coming in on you right now. And I tell you what, the light dispels the darkness. You can always leave us a comment on Facebook and Instagram X or YouTube. And we always love hearing what God is doing in your life. Thank you so much for watching. We love you today. That's why we bring programs like this to you because we want to encourage you and we want to see you walk in all that God has for you. And listen, don't lose your hope. God is not through with you. We'll see you next time. Bye bye for today. Hey, it's Ryan Reynolds here from Mint Mobile.
- [30:36]
E
Now I was looking for fun ways to tell you that Mint's offer of
- [30:40]
B
unlimited Premium Wireless for $15 a month is back.
- [30:44]
F
So I thought it would be fun if we made $15 bills, but it turns out that's very illegal.
- [30:51]
E
So there goes my big idea for the commercial. Give it a try@mintmobile.com switch upfront payment
- [30:57]
A
of $45 for three months, $90 for six months or $180 for a 12 month plan required $15 per month equipment equivalent taxes and fees, Extra initial plan term only greater than 50 gigabytes. Me slow when network is busy see
- [31:05]
D
terms the headlines they move on. But the heartache and the terror they do not. Iran and its terrorist proxies are continuing to target Israel. Hezbollah continues its attacks in the north, forcing families to live under constant threat. But Israel is not only defending her people, she is standing on the front lines against terror that threatens us all. All. Even when the news crews leave the International fellowship of Christians and Jews, they remain every day they are on the ground providing life saving aid. Now near Israel's border with Lebanon, a Hezbollah drone recently struck the home of Yelena. Widowed earlier this year and living alone, she was trapped inside by the blast. Thankfully she was not injured, but she remained displaced. It's hard these days, she says. But I don't want to leave. Well, as Christians we are called to stand with God's people and pray for those defending Israel and protecting the freedoms we hold dear. I want you to join the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews in praying for the peace of Jerusalem and for the soldiers, families and civilians carrying the burden of of this fight right now. Visit pray ifcj.org that's pray ifcj.org maxing
- [32:33]
E
is so maxing right now bro. Get ready for spicy chicken maxing because Carl's Jr. Is saving you big with a 5.99 maxed out double stack double stack Double stack Spicy chicken sandwich. Seriously, just 5.99 double stack spicy chicken. This is unreal value in the bromosphere. The new Spicy Chicken Max Wallet Friendly Max Tasty only at Carl's Jr available
- [32:57]
C
for limited time at participating restaurants.
- [32:58]
F
Taxon included.
- [32:59]
E
Not valid for use within a combo or a combination with any other offered discount.
- [33:03]
C
Hanging out at the pool is great. Relaxing and playing Vegas style games on my phone at the same time. Drink in one hand and a blackjack in the other. It's all at spinquest. Over a thousand games including your favorite slots and table games. Be cool with this summer special. New players get $30 coin packs for
- [33:23]
E
10@Spinquest.com Spin Quest is a free to play social casino void where prohibited. Visit spin quest.com for more details.
- [33:56]
B
Today's guests didn't come from picture perfect homes. They came from families marked by pain, divorce and betrayal. But God used that very story to shape their passion for restored families. They join us today to share the inspiration behind the groundbreaking book Family Matters and to reveal why no family is too broken for God to redeem welcome to Joni table talk. Friends from the table, I'm your host, Rebecca and I am here with my lovely co host Dorothy Newton.
- [34:22]
G
And I'm so happy to be here with you, Rebecca and our friends. So thank you. Thanks for the opportunity.
- [34:29]
B
Yes, we have Pastor Sherman and Dr. Jaquette, you are with us in the building today.
- [34:35]
C
So excited to be here. You're doing a great job with saying her name and so we're kinds of charms
- [34:42]
B
and of course we have your book family matters because God put it in your heart to really his heart is for family and how he's going to do revival through family. Can you talk to us about that?
- [34:55]
C
Yeah. You know, it's amazing that from the very beginning, even in Genesis, God didn't start things with the construction of a temple. He put a family in place. And of course that family was so valuable that the enemy made it his first place of attack. Because of the value that families carry and what God wants to do through family. I believe without a doubt that family is designed to be the center point for cultural transformation and revival. And when we focus in on family, when we focus in on God's plan for each and every part of our family, not even the pieces that we are thinking just in our direct home, but even our extended family, we get ready to see God do some things that will literally blow our minds. It starts right there though.
- [35:38]
B
That's so good. Now let's get into Yalls story. Why don't we start with you and then we'll have you go Dr. Jaquette after him.
- [35:45]
C
Yeah, yeah. And so, you know, it's interesting as we talk about family, you know, I experienced the intro, talked a little bit about the pain in family. And my family started off in divorce. My family, my dad decided that he would operate in infidelity. And so when that happened, it opened the door of chaos to our journey. I fought so hard to try to figure out my identity and to figure out what it looks like to feel loved. Because I didn't feel love because I thought because my dad wasn't there, why would anybody else want me? So I actually tried taking my life. But I just love how God swooped in and he came in not only through his love, but through the power of prophetic word. You know, I got this word from the Lord and I was about to 14 years old and it came from a guy named Kim Clement who released a prophetic word to me. And when he released that word, it opened up a world that impossible things can actually be possible, including what God would do in the restoration of my family. And so that started the journey of what God gave me, hope to believe that things were possible.
- [36:54]
G
How old were you?
- [36:56]
C
I was 14 when Kim gave me that word.
- [36:58]
G
Did you understand the word?
- [37:00]
C
I did then. I did then. I mean, and it was very detailed. A lot of it is happening right now.
- [37:05]
G
It's wonderful.
- [37:06]
B
And then they met around that time. So we'll have you lead from this point.
- [37:13]
A
So we met around that time, but I think just with similar background. So I was raised by a single mom, my two sisters and I. I'm in the middle of two girls and my parents were together probably until I was about, I'd say six years old. And I remember even at that young age, like so much tension and chaos at. And so while some people have the story of like, oh my gosh, my parents got divorced. And it was so hard for me to be pushed into that. I kind of experienced the opposite. Like my parents got divorced. And that's actually when I started to experience peace in the home. Because while they were trying to hold together what they felt like they should be doing, neither one of them were fully submitted to God or to God's plan. So it was a force fit of something. And so my mom moving into obedience, not obedience of divorce, but obedience to just start listening to the Lord, submitting to the Lord and dedicating our household to the Lord opened up a level of peace and a level of restoration even as a single mom. And I started to move through really learning the Lord, learning to be spirit led and even in that non traditional structure, started to see God's plan for family, maybe not, you know, the way he has originally intended, but that restoration is always possible and that you can be healthy, you can be whole if at any point you submit your family to the.
- [38:40]
B
And that's what I love about your story, is that you help people have hope that even if you're in a single home situation, or maybe not the most, you know, ideal situation, if that parent can surrender their household to the Lord like your mother did, you know, God can work through that and do something amazing and beautiful. And he did that with you and he did that with you.
- [39:02]
G
Absolutely. You know, I remember, you know, I have two young boys, well, two to men now, but you know, when they were young, 12 and 4 years old, especially a 12 year old, he would say it all the time, mom, there's so much peace in our home now that you're divorced, you know, and I was staying in the marriage because of them. And just for them to articulate that. My question for you is, you know, since you were raised that way, there's so many single parents, there's so many grandparents who are raising kids, there are single dads who are raising kids. And I, even though it was the most rewarding thing I've ever done in my life, it was the hardest thing in my life. What would you say to parents who don't have the traditional home setting in raising children today?
- [39:55]
A
Yeah, I would say, I think the most important thing in the beginning is really to consider, like, letting go of all shame and all comparisons. I think that sometimes even when there's two parents in the home, we fall into comparison all the time. Like looking over here, looking over there, like, oh, my gosh. But I think just letting all of the comparison go and really sitting with the Lord to figure out, what are you asking me to do? What is your expectation for me and what is your plan for my family in its current state? Not when we reach this grand, you know, accomplishment, not years down the line, but what is your plan for us right now where we are in the midst of the mess, in the midst of the muck, whatever it is, what is your plan for us? And I think when we let that comparison go and allow ourselves to be seen by God in our present state, not striving for something else, but as sons, as daughters, that he's our dad, like, he always has a plan for us right now. And so sometimes when we can just center, it's hard, but we can center ourselves in that. That would be my admonishment to any single parent, is that you are living in your present and not just like making it through. Like, you know you're gonna get to the end of this, but you can have like so much reward, so much presence, so much peace right now if you completely submit to the Lord.
- [41:15]
C
Well, you know, the truth is that there are families who are led by single parents, but there are also families that are blended families. There are also grandparent led families. And a lot of times they feel like my family is past being reached. But one of the things that I love that is so clear from the heart of God is that every single family is a place that restoration can happen. No matter what the journ, no matter what's going on there, that God hand can come in and totally restore that home.
- [41:44]
G
Yeah, question for you as a young, you know, male, growing up without your father, how did you handle that? I mean, you know, sometimes, you know, kids, depending on the age, regardless of the age they act out in different ways. Was that a hard time for you? How did you get over it, handle it?
- [42:03]
C
Yeah, you know, it happened just by the father literally putting me in the right environments. My mom was like Samuel's mom in that she knew what was on his life. And Samuel's mom literally took him to the temple. My mom knew my destiny and my call and put me in the environment to be around men and women of God that can help support her in the journey. I believe that family should not be done in a silo. It's best done in community. You might know the statement that people have made before. What happens in this house stays in this house. I know you would know.
- [42:40]
G
Absolutely.
- [42:44]
C
But it's a horrible statement that's created so much secrecy. It's created so many environments where people have felt like, I have to do this by ourselves, we have to do it by ourselves. And so one of the things that my mom did well was to make sure that we did family and support side of community, that people came alongside. It's that tribe mindset, came alongside to help. So that help really opened me up to understanding that I wasn't in it alone, that God had raised up other people. And so even in the absence then of my father, there were just so many tremendous individuals that I can point to that were guideposts along the journey. And so. And God is a provider. And I want everybody watching to know that, that whatever you feel like you're missing, he is a provider. Not just of your finances, not just of the things that you want physically, but he will send the individuals and the relationships you need too, to be a part of that journey.
- [43:36]
G
So good.
- [43:37]
B
And what I love about you two is that you came from these single parent homes, you found one another, found one another at a young age, have been together for so many years, which that is honestly like a testament in and of itself. But you guys chose to come into covenant with one another and chose to raise your family and honor the Lord. How does someone break that generational pattern?
- [44:00]
A
Yeah, I think that when we came together, we were so honest and explicit about what we didn't want to see in our family. I think sometimes you know it in the back of your head, but you're not voicing it. And so one of the things that we were clear on was declaring what the word of the Lord was over us as individuals. Because before he brought us together, like I was called before I got with him, you know, like God had a plan for me before I got with him. And so we have to be clear in our individual identities. And then you're bringing those two whole identities together. But also, you're not, like, assuming that, oh, now the devil's gonna back off. Like, we're just gonna be good because we came together. Oh, no, he's after us. He hates us. And so we declared out of our mouth what the plan was. And when we saw things creeping up, we cursed it, and we send it back where it came from. And we just. We took it on as a declaration of war on our individual bloodlines. And so we aggressively pushed back on it and inserted heaven's plan, God's plan. This has been the curse. What is the blessing? This has been the curse. Naming the curses explicitly from poverty to divorce to adultery, naming those different curses, and then inserting the blessing that would block that curse.
- [45:24]
B
Yeah. And also, it really seems that you guys have an understanding and a revelation of the power of prayer. Can you talk about the importance of that and how to incorporate that into the family home?
- [45:34]
C
Yeah, I think it's vital that, you know, we disciple our entire family. As a husband, I have the responsibility not only leading my children, but leading my wife. And sometimes we don't take those positions of, you know, we talk about the threefold concept of prophet, priest, and king. For husbands to take that place of not only being in a place of going before the Lord on behalf of their family. That's the priest. Not only being in the place of hearing from the Lord, that's that prophet aspect, but also being in the place of kingship, leading. Well, and leading your family where they need to go. And even in their relationship with the Lord. It's like, I guess I'm just on Samuel today, But it's like when Samuel was in the process of learning God's voice, you know, he had a wicked leader that was a part of his journey, but. But Eli was leading him and guiding him in what he heard and how to respond. That's what we have to do with our family. Like, how are you hearing? What are you hearing? And this is how you respond to the voice of God and taking to that and prioritizing their understanding of what prayer really is. You know, sometimes we come into prayer, and I grew up in church my entire life, and so I've heard people that have gone before me, my elders, and they prayed a certain way. Sometimes we try to duplicate what other people sound like, but no. Prayer simply at its simplest terms, friends, it's a conversation with God. And as you begin that journey of friendship with God and That's what we have taught our children, and that's what we've encouraged each other in, is friendship with God. You know, and when you lean into that space, then prayer becomes a thing, not of a routine. It becomes a necessity. I have to have a conversation with my friends.
- [47:16]
B
Yeah, that's so good. Well, stay with us. We'll be right back after this break.
- [47:21]
E
Imagine facing a storm so vast it threatens to engulf everything you've built. Would you falter or would you find strength you never knew you had?
- [47:30]
F
When a hurricane is tearing through your life, Jesus is the peace that steals the waters of your soul.
- [47:37]
E
This is a tale of navigating life's fiercest tempests and discoveries that sometimes the most profound truths are born in the heart of the storm. Get your copy now@jonielam.com shop welcome back
- [47:51]
B
to Friends from the Table. We're here with Sherman Dumas and Dr. Jaquette Dumas to discuss the book Family Matters. And there was something that you said on another program that was so good about how we need to allow our children and the safety of our homes to learn to make decisions and hear from the Lord. Can you tell us about that?
- [48:11]
A
Yeah. I am a recovering control freak. I'm working. I'm doing my best to just release control, but it comes in my parenting style sometimes where I just wanna, like, insert myself and all of my wisdom and everything that I know. And so it's been a journey of being able to pull back and make a safe space to cultivate for my kids to learn to make decisions. If there's something that they're going through, even at kind of like an early age, allowing them to kind of think through and talk through what feels right, what do you think is best? Talking through consequences and allowing them to make mistakes and fail in the safety of my home and really just modeling what Christ models for us, doesn't he let us mistakes. Let us make mistakes all the time.
- [49:00]
B
So one of the ways we learn.
- [49:02]
F
Yeah.
- [49:02]
A
And he's still there for us.
- [49:03]
F
He doesn't shut us out.
- [49:05]
A
You know, we're not away from his love or anything like that. And then also at the same time, he's not forcing and inserting himself in everything. He gives us space to know, like, and to be led by the spirit. And so just teaching myself first before I'm teaching my kids, but teaching myself that everybody has to have a process and then putting safeguards where, of course, I'm not letting them fall and just ruin their entire life, but making it safe for them to come back and say, you know what? I made a bad decision. And being there for them and supporting them through that.
- [49:39]
B
Because the thing is, is that if you don't allow your children to make decisions in the safety of their home, what can happen is when they come outside the home, they're not gonna be well versed in that. But also, there can be decision paralysis.
- [49:51]
A
Yes.
- [49:52]
B
Because I know for myself there was, like, such a fear of failure. You have to kind of experience failing to understand that you don't need to be afraid of it. Cause if you have a fear of anything, you're gonna be a slave to that and paralyzed by that.
- [50:04]
A
Absolutely.
- [50:05]
B
And so you have to learn, like, it's okay to mess up. It's what you do after the mess up. Like, God is a loving God, and he is our father, and so I love that because it's helping them get acquainted with that and understanding that you're in a journey and a process, and it's not about being perfect, and you don't have to. So you're not living your life in paralysis. You can live your life forward.
- [50:23]
A
Yes.
- [50:24]
G
That's so good, Rebecca. And also, you know, when God makes promises, whether it's to us or our children, just because you failed doesn't end the promise. I mean, his promise is still true, and he will be right in the end. So, you know, God always prevails no matter what. So that's something I always reminded my kids of, is that, you know, you will fall and you will fall again, but get back up because, you know, what God has declared over your life, no one can take it away from you. I absolutely, you know, with Family Matters, there's so much happening today where social media, and I don't want to blame it on social media, but it's taken away, you know, so much of what parents are trying to teach in the home, and they're exposed to so much. I mean, how do you put safeguards in place to protect our children?
- [51:19]
C
Yeah, you know, you're right. You know, social media, of course, is a tool that we can use to impact people around the world. But then so much wildfire can happen there. And so we don't villainize social media, but it's the truth. It's just like television, the same thing. There's so many different spaces where it's happening, but we teach our children how to be able to build the right filter. So I have some of my kids who love secular music. They love different types of music. And so we go on the journey of Talking through. Who's the author? Who wrote that? Not even who sings it. Who wrote it? What was their intent behind writing it? What do you know about the journey of that author? And I'm like, dad, is that serious? I'm like, well, you're the gatekeeper to your heart, your ears, your eyes. So are you just gonna let anybody have access to your soul? No, you need to know the information. So I make them download the lyrics, read it out loud, and we talk through it.
- [52:14]
B
I love that.
- [52:15]
C
Yeah. And it's not just saying, don't listen to secular music. If that's what you're gonna do. Do it in form. Don't just allow anything to come into your space. So we go on the journey to teach them how to build their own filters. And so then there's. If they look at the lyrics, then they're just like, actually, maybe I don't need to listen to this person, or maybe I don't need to do that. And so we've got to train because sometimes we step in the place of just saying, don't do, with no explanation. And I'm gonna tell you, Gen Z and Gen Alpha wanna know why. They do not wanna know anything about you. You just telling them not to do anything. And so walking them through that then allows them to make those decisions that you mentioned earlier and to be able to be led by God themselves. So training them how to know the Lord for themselves.
- [53:00]
G
Absolutely.
- [53:01]
B
Something that's so important is hearing the voice of God and being led by the Spirit. How did you learn to cultivate that in your own lives? And how did you teach your children?
- [53:11]
A
Yeah. I think that honestly, both of us being raised in the church, and I'll speak for myself, but I think I can speak for you. So much of it early on was just following the rules and trying not to go down under.
- [53:25]
E
That was for me, too.
- [53:27]
A
I don't know why that's what I did. Yeah. And there's so much fear around it, it's almost taking out the joy of the relationship, the joy of being a believer. Right. And so I think once I got over that, and I wasn't like, you know, Lord, like, don't take me in my sleep.
- [53:42]
C
I want to go to the right
- [53:43]
A
place kind of thing. And you start to build a relationship with the Lord, you find it's almost like joy in learning his voice. And so I went on that journey of trying to figure out, okay, what is his character by reading the Word. Right. Because, I mean, that's his voice. So what is his character, what kinds of things would he say and what kinds of things would he not say? And so that kind of trained my ear. And then just in the spirit, in that place of prayer, starting to write down what I think I'm hearing and asking trusted people, like, do you feel this is consistent? Like, myself doesn't match his character, that I know. But then also, do you feel it's consistent having accountable people around you? And then regularly having those conversations? When I'm in discipleship meetings with people, I'm always asking them because I never want my voice to be louder than the Lord's voice.
- [54:35]
F
Oh, that's amazing.
- [54:35]
A
So one of the things that I always ask people is, what do you hear the Lord saying to you? And growing up, nobody asked me. Nobody asked me. So I never had to try to listen to him because everybody was telling me what he was saying. Everybody was telling me, so why did I need to lean in for myself? But it's a question that I ask myself regularly. What are you sensing from the Lord? Well, okay, that's what you're hearing doesn't line up with his written word, with his character and going on that journey. I think it's just like with a spouse or a friend, like, there are some things that a friend could write or type, and you're like, that doesn't sound like them. So, you know, they're either going through something or it wasn't them, you know, And I think we get like that with the Lord. Just practice time and bringing the joy back to it. So you actually desire to learn it for yourself and not from other people in other places.
- [55:24]
F
Yeah, that's so good.
- [55:25]
G
And I think what's good, too, is recognizing those gifts in our children, you know, because sometimes, you know, like in our culture, you know, you speak when spoken to, that type of thing. But one thing I notice about your story is that one of your children told you that you would have another child. Now, typically, you know, that's something, you know, I probably would have ignored, not really paid attention. But you saw that that is a gift. How did you cultivate the gift in your children?
- [55:59]
C
You know, interesting thing is when he came to us, he was 4 years old, and he told us that we were pregnant with twins. And we thought that he just thought that's how babies came. Because my wife's friend at that time had just had twins. And he goes, no, she has two boys. You're going to have girl and a boy. And so it happened just like he prophesied. But we didn't believe it the first time. So just be, you know, Frank. When he said it, we were like, we're not pregnant, we're not happy to. But when it began to manifest, we realized, oh, wow, we've built a culture, we've built an environment that opens our children's hearts to hearing the voice of God. And so they've seen it played out before them, so now they're leaning into listening to the Lord. Right. So we took him on a journey and I started taking him on the road with me. And so when he would travel with me one time we came into a worship experience and he said, dad, I always say, son, tell me if you have anything. We came into a worship experience, maybe he was 10 now. And we came in this worship experience and I was preaching somewhere. He says, I have a word for the pastor. And I was like, huh?
- [57:01]
A
Hey.
- [57:01]
C
He said, I have a word for that pastor. And I was like, well, whisper it in my ear. And so he whispered in my ear and it was really the word of the Lord. And so I gave him the mic. This man was wrecked by this 10 year old speaking to things that he could never know. Like 10 year olds don't even form these kinds of sentences. Like it was the word of the Lord that was released to them. And so helping our children to know, you don't have to wait till you're 18, you don't have to wait till you're 25, 30. The same Holy Spirit that moves through the 80 year old is the same Holy Spirit that moves through the eight year old and allowing them to know God wants to use you right now and you can impact so many people around them and taking them on that journey.
- [57:42]
B
What's interesting is that you also operate in the prophetic. So it's like, how did you cultivate that yourself? Like, did someone help teach you or was like the Holy Spirit kind of having to show you the way?
- [57:51]
C
Yeah, and so I think it started, you're really, really young. When I was 8, I had this encounter with the Lord where he began to reveal to me certain parts of my journey. That's why at 14 years old, I could tell I was going to the nations and all of that, because at 8 years old, you know, the Spirit of God visited me and gave me some really clear pictures of his plan for my life. And I didn't understand it in great detail, but I at least knew that there was something massive that I was called to do. And so in that process, again, my mom putting me in the right environments, I Started encountering people who would call those things out in me and make me aware, hey, you know, there's something special, there's something unique on you. I still didn't understand the prophetic part of it. And it wasn't until I moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma. And when I moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma, God blessed me so tremendously with people who would teach me. I had no real understanding. But there was a lady, and I got to recognize and honor her. Her name is Pam Vennette. And Pam Vennette is a powerful prophet that God was using. She had a prophetic school where she was. I had never heard of that, but training people how to hear God's voice and how to move in that. I came from a really traditional background. I'd never heard of anything like that. And so here we are. Here I am as an ORU student, going to also this school of the prophetic and learning about how to hear God's voice, how to realize that God's not just raising up prophets, but According to Joel 2 and Acts chapter 2, his sons and his daughters shall prophesy, right? And then Romans 8 makes it in the book of Romans, rather, it says, we can all prophesy by. And so God is raising up his sons and daughters to live in what I call the John chapter 10 dimension. Like, we are his sheep, we hear his voice, and we communicate it effectively. And so going on that journey by God, putting those people around me, I've been, she'll tell you, on the journey for now, decades now, of making sure that I'm a part of helping people to realize, no matter who you are, if you're a believer, God wants to release his sound through you so that others can be impacted.
- [59:47]
G
That's so good.
- [59:48]
B
Can you guys just share a word of encouragement for people who are watching how you feel the Holy Spirit's leading you to speak to those.
- [59:54]
A
Yeah, absolutely. I just. I want to encourage everybody watching here to just really lean in to the Lord. I think that, you know, Christianity, church, everything, you know, it's been so much under attack, but I really sense that there's just a lot of distractions happening. And if you can get alone with the Lord, the revelation that you need, and, yeah, you need community, but spending time with the Lord is so underrated. And I want to encourage all of you to get in the presence of the Lord and get to know him and his character for yourself.
- [60:30]
C
And in that place, you're getting ready to experience the greatest level of refreshing that you could imagine. Don't delay, move with urgency. And God's been trying to get your attention. He's been trying to shake up things around you so that your eyes can be focused on Him. And as you do that, there's something fresh that's getting ready to be unlocked. And I believe that you're getting ready to experience A Matthew chapter 6 Grace, where heaven is getting ready to invade the earth around you and you're going to feel the tangible presence of God that's going to lead you into the places he's destined for you.
- [61:01]
B
Well, receive that word today. We are unfortunately out of time, but remember that your story does not have to end where the pain began with God. Broken patterns can be restored, wounded hearts can heal, and a new legacy can begin with you. Invite him into your life today and watch him turn your past into hope for the generations to come. If you need prayer today, please call our toll free number, 1-800-329-0029. Our prayer partners are standing by and ready to pray with you. I want to thank Pastor Sherman Dumas and his lovely wife Dr. Jaquette Dumas for being with us today. Be sure you pick up a copy of his book Family Matters. For more, you can visit them online@ KingdomCulture.1. As always, make sure to follow us on social media, subscribe to our YouTube channel and listen to the Joni Tabletop podcast, available now on all major platforms. Thank you so much for joining us. Until next time, bye bye for today.