JONI TABLE TALK - FEBRUARY 22nd, 2026

Summary

Podcast Summary: JONI TABLE TALK – February 22, 2026

Podcast: Real America’s Voice
Host: Joni Lamb
Guests: Molly Sewell, Lorenzo Sewell, Reginald Watts, Anna Kendall, Dorothy Newton, Rachel Lamb Brown, Cindy Johnston
Air Date: February 22, 2026

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Episode Overview

This episode of Joni Table Talk centers on powerful testimonies of redemption, restoration, and faith. The show weaves together two main interviews:

1. The redemption story of Molly and Lorenzo Sewell—a tale of adoption, spiritual searching, surrender, and the healing of family relationships through faith.
2. The testimony of Reginald Watts, who chronicles his journey from addiction and prison to finding hope and transformation in Christ behind bars.

Both stories are presented to offer hope to listeners that, regardless of life’s darkest moments or most painful circumstances, transformation is possible.

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Segment 1: The Sewells – Adoption, Identity, and Restoration

[03:05–29:31]

Key Discussion Points

Identity, Adoption & Early Faith

• Molly’s Story: Molly was adopted from South Korea into a Jewish-Irish-American household, along with her biological brother.
  • Quote: “You normally adopt them into your culture, into your way of life … but being able to actually say, you know what? I’m South Korean. I have to be proud of that … because it’s created in me who I actually am.” — Molly Sewell [05:05]
• Her family wasn’t religious; exposure to Christianity happened through Lutheran church.
  • Her mom converted to Messianic Judaism.
  • Molly’s relationship with God, initially, was via a mechanical salvation prayer at age 16 after watching a VHS sermon.
  • Quote: “It wasn’t that I had a crazy experience within the church … it was actually through an online preacher who was giving a salvation message … I did it, more of a selfish thing of, all right, God, if heaven’s actually real … let me at least just recite the prayer and just get it done.” — Molly Sewell [05:41-06:48]

Meeting and Life with Lorenzo

• Lorenzo Sewell: Former pastor, experienced church hurt, running from God at the time they met.
  • Quote: “I had already pastored … I was hurting the church and hurt my pastor, and I ran from God.” — Lorenzo Sewell [08:11]
  • Molly and Lorenzo met under secular circumstances (in a bar), both not committed believers at the time.
  • Lorenzo had prayed: “The next woman I meet, I’m going to marry.” — Lorenzo [09:40]
  • They quickly grew close, but Molly resisted moving too fast.
  • For a year and a half, they lived a non-religious lifestyle, despite Lorenzo’s spiritual background.

Turning Point & Surrender

• Both recount persistent internal conflict about their lifestyle and neglect of faith.
  • Joni Lamb: “There will come a day of reckoning where you have to make a decision.” [11:06]
• Their turning points involved an African pastor and a fervent prayer meeting where Molly felt the presence of God physically, prompting her to surrender, initially motivated by a broken relationship with her father.
  • Quote: “I feel like this egg gets dropped on my head, this immense amount of pressure … not one person [around me]. That was your surrender moment.” — Molly Sewell [16:19–16:53]

Restoration of Family

• While at their lowest (facing eviction after going into ministry full time), Molly’s estranged father called, offering them a house rent-free—the same day as their eviction.
  • “Through complete surrender … Not realizing God’s like, actually, the relationship that you need to restore is with me. Wow. And I will do the rest.” — Molly Sewell & Joni Lamb [20:20]
• Over time, her father—initially critical and estranged—came back into their lives. He eventually converted to Christianity through a simple, honest conversation and prayer with Molly during a church service.
  • “If you’re inviting a church, don’t give up on them … Don’t give up.” — Molly Sewell [22:41–25:05]
  • Notable Moment: The episode underscores persistence in inviting loved ones to faith, sharing how Molly’s dad slowly became supportive and engaged, and how racial/cultural barriers broke down through love and faith.

Reflection on Healing and Forgiveness

• The Sewells discuss the gradual process of forgiveness, healing, and the fruit seen in Molly’s dad’s life, even as some prejudices melted.
  • Quote: “Now the relationship becomes, you’re not just my father-in-law, you’re my brother.” — Lorenzo Sewell [26:10]
• Lorenzo shares about the importance of not giving up, even after spiritual backsliding or church hurt.

Memorable Quotes & Moments

• Joni: “We can’t judge somebody else’s heart.” [11:46]
• Molly: “I just knew, when I’m meeting my husband, I’m leaving my family to form another family here. So that, to me, was very important.” [12:55]
• Anna Kendall: “I love that the Lord doesn’t give up on any of us. … All we have to do is accept that invitation.” [28:02]

Call to Salvation and Closing Prayer

[28:16–29:03]

• Lorenzo leads listeners in a salvation prayer, paralleling what Molly did for her father.

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Segment 2: From Crack to the Cross – The Reginald Watts Story

[33:42–59:58]

Key Discussion Points

Early Life & Descent into Addiction

• Reginald grew up in a stable, loving family in New Orleans, with hard-working parents and strong values.
  • Quote: “I had to leave it to Beaver type of life coming up.” — Reginald Watts [36:27]
• Despite positive upbringing, Reginald fell into drug use at college, initially experimenting due to peer influence and curiosity, eventually developing a severe crack cocaine addiction.
  • “Getting away from that solid family teaching … I got away from what my mother taught us.” [37:51–39:03]

Escalating Consequences

• To fund his drug habit, Reginald began shoplifting, then advanced to robbery after being recognized in stores.
• Added to the spiral: arrest, short sentences, repeat offenses—culminating in a life sentence at Angola prison in Louisiana.
  • Quote: “Nobody has more chances than I have. … I was 223 [lbs] … 48 days later, I returned on robberies … I was 159 pounds.” — Reginald Watts [46:38–46:59]

Encounter with God in Prison

• Reginald describes a pivotal night when, following a crackdown, guards took all possessions from his cell except a blue Gideon Bible.
  • Quote: “They took all the books out except for the blue Gideon Bible.” — Reginald Watts [49:41]
• He randomly flipped to Romans 7:14–25 and found his struggle reflected in scripture, recognizing his inability to escape addiction alone.
  • Quote: “That which I don’t want to do is what I do. … I was, because I always wanted to … do what was right. But how to perform that was right I didn’t know how.” — Reginald Watts [50:12]

Struggle, Surrender, Breakthrough

• At first, Reginald resisted the conviction of Scripture, but eventually relented and prayed a prayer of total surrender.
  • Quote: “I said, God, I’m wore out … If you give me the strength to want to live, I’ll live for you the rest of my life. … Something came over me, and I know it was the shadowing of the Holy Ghost.” — Reginald Watts [53:29–55:10]
• He was discipled in prison, became pastor to other inmates, and became known for faith under fire.

Miraculous Release and New Calling

• After multiple attempts and decades in prison, Reginald was released against the odds—governor’s signature, paperwork all processed in “record time.”
  • Quote: “All in record time. All in record time.” — Reginald Watts [59:13]
• Today, he is a chaplain and program director, ministering to prisoners and staff—a living testament of transformation.
  • Quote: “God already knew I had a life sentence, but that life sentence didn’t know about my God.”— Reginald Watts [56:56]

Memorable Quotes & Moments

• “That paper in that box would never even look at it … I started telling that paper about my God instead of telling God about my paper.” — Reginald Watts [56:56]
• Joni: “No mistake, no prison, no storm in your life is too big for God to work in.” [59:58]
• Reginald: “That’s the best place to be” [60:38], in reference to surrendering fully to God.

Reflection, Invitation, and Prayer

• The episode closes with encouragement to those “not in a physical prison, but in a prison of darkness, anxiety, fear”—God is able to meet them, just as He did Reginald.
• Call to salvation repeated: direct invitation and model prayer.

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Important Timestamps & Segment Highlights

• [04:54–07:16]: Molly on adoption, identity, and first encounter with Christ
• [08:11–09:49]: Lorenzo on church hurt & meeting Molly
• [13:22–16:53]: Surrender moments and dramatic prayer meeting encounter
• [20:18–20:46]: Restoration of relationship with Molly’s father
• [22:41–25:27]: How Molly’s dad came to Christ
• [33:42–37:44]: Introduction of Reginald Watts and family background
• [39:03–46:11]: Addiction, crimes, and prison sentences
• [49:41–51:14]: Encounter with the Gideon Bible in prison
• [53:29–55:10]: Surrender to God and receiving the Holy Spirit
• [56:56]: "Telling the paper about my God"—shift in prayer focus
• [59:13–59:16]: Miraculous release from prison

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Notable Quotes

• “We can’t judge somebody else’s heart.” — Joni Lamb [11:46]
• “I was tired … If you give me the strength to want to live, I’ll live for you the rest of my life.” — Reginald Watts [53:29]
• “God already knew I had a life sentence, but that life sentence didn’t know about my God.” — Reginald Watts [56:56]
• “No mistake, no prison, no storm in your life is too big for God to work in.” — Joni Lamb [59:58]
• “He’s always calling us home. And all we have to do is accept that invitation.” — Anna Kendall [28:02]

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Tone and Language

• Warm, faith-filled, and approachable, with honest admissions of brokenness and struggle, and a consistent message: however far you have strayed, God can redeem and restore.

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Closing

Both testimonies serve as powerful reminders of faith’s transformative potential—across issues of identity, addiction, family estrangement, and spiritual backsliding. The episode encourages listeners that total surrender can lead to unexpected breakthrough, and that no one is ever too far gone for restoration.

For more about the Sewells' ministry: [180 Church, Detroit, MI]
Reginald Watts' book: “From Crack to the Cross”
Prayer and Resources: Callers encouraged to reach out for prayer and a free Gospel of John.

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Transcript

[Molly Sewell]

This is an iHeart podcast.

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[Molly Sewell]

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[Chelsea Handler]

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[Joni Lamb]

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[Reginald Watts]

Research shows there is a significant connection between the ability to continue to work and cancer recovery. We can make work a better place

[Joni Lamb]

for healing, learn more and sign the

[Chelsea Handler]

[e-mail] this season on Dear Chelsea with me, Chelsea Handler. We've got some incredible guests like Kumail Nanjiani. Let's start with your cat. How is she?

[Joni Lamb]

She is not with us anymore.

[Chelsea Handler]

Okay, great, great, great Way to start. Maybe you will cry. Ross Matthews. You know what kids always say to me? Are you a boy or a girl?

[Joni Lamb]

Oh, my God. All the time.

[Chelsea Handler]

I know. So I try to butch it up for kids so they're not confused. Yeah, but you're butchering it up. It's basically like an angry woman. Doris Day, right? No, I turn into Bea. Listen to these episodes of Dear Chelsea on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Joni Lamb]

Well, have you ever felt like life was spinning out of control? And maybe you've even wondered, does God really see me? Well, today's guests are living proof that he does. And they're here to show us how God can use every challenge in our life to shape it into a story of hope and restoration. God can do that. Before we get to that, join me around the table is someone that God did it for. Papal Simon.

[Reginald Watts]

Right.

[Joni Lamb]

Amen to that. I'm so. It's just such an honor and joy to serve God because he picks us up right where we are, turns our life around. Thank God for that. And just, you know, just uses us despite what we've gone through. It's just amazing. Dorothy Newton, how are you doing? I am doing really good. I always ask you about grandchildren. Oh, my goodness. I was with them this past weekend all day. We took family pictures. They're just. You know what? They're just kids. Perfect.

[Molly Sewell]

Yes.

[Joni Lamb]

Yeah. Rachel Ann Brown gave me two perfect grandchildren.

[Anna Kendall]

Two little boys.

[Joni Lamb]

Welcome to the table.

[Molly Sewell]

Thank you.

[Anna Kendall]

I'm excited about our guests today and their story.

[Joni Lamb]

Myrtle. Hey. Always good to have you, bestie. Thank you. I love being back. Today was wonderful. The worship, oh, my goodness, was so refreshing. So good. So good. And we're so happy to have Lorenzo and his lovely wife, Molly Sewell at the table.

[Molly Sewell]

Thank you. Thank you for having us. You're welcome.

[Joni Lamb]

Guys, Lorenzo's been with us, but guess what? He brought Molly. This time. You're going to hear her story. It's amazing. You know, life doesn't always go as expected. It's full of ups and downs, highs and lows. But can God really use it all for our good? Lorenzo and Molly Sewell are here to encourage us that when we fully surrender, God can do anything. So, Molly, you talk about being adopted, and there were a lot of things that went along with that. Just, you know, your identity and who you are, and you look different than everybody else. Talk a little bit about that, and then we'll go to when you met Lorenzo Sewell.

[Molly Sewell]

Yeah. So adopted out of South Korea. So I'm 100% South Korean. I'm 50% Irish and 50% Jewish.

[Joni Lamb]

Yeah.

[Molly Sewell]

I thought it was interesting to open with that because a lot of people in adoptions, they don't really think about, well, what's the nationality of your adopted child? You normally adopt them into your culture, into your way of life, and have them form into that and being able to actually say, you know what? I'm South Korean. I have to be proud of that. I have to be proud of my heritage and the culture that I've come from, because it's created in me who I actually am. So my adoptive mom was Jewish when she adopted us. My dad is of Irish descent. He's also adopted, and his mom is also adopted.

[Joni Lamb]

Wow.

[Molly Sewell]

And so when my mom decided to take my brother and I, because I'm adopted with my blood sibling, he's a year older than I am. And so she decided, you know what? I gotta get you guys into church. So here we are, we're in a Lutheran church, and she dedicates my brother and I, and she gives her life to Christ during that time. So now she's a messianic Jewish. My dad, he would come for Christmas every Easter, every once in a while. But that's really where my family structure kind of set. So we weren't super religious. I didn't have a personal relationship with Jesus. I looked at a priest as you're here, kind of thing, like, all right, well, what am I giving my dollar to? Like, you're telling me I'm a bad person. I don't know what else to do. You're not telling me how to get out of it. And so that was my relationship with Christ moving forward after that. It wasn't that I had a crazy experience within the church itself. It was actually through an online preacher who was giving a salvation message of this is a golden ticket and this is how you get to heaven. And so through words only I did it. More of a selfish thing of, all right, God, if heaven's actually real, if hell is actually real, I want to go to the better place. Yeah, yeah. Let me at least just recite the prayer and just get it done.

[Joni Lamb]

So you actually prayed with somebody you were watching?

[Molly Sewell]

That's it.

[Joni Lamb]

Wow. How old were you at that point?

[Molly Sewell]

16.

[Joni Lamb]

You're 16?

[Molly Sewell]

16 years old. I'm in the basement of my mom's house. My parents had already divorced at that time, and I'm watching a vhs. So for all the viewers that know vhs.

[Joni Lamb]

Yes.

[Reginald Watts]

Ok.

[Molly Sewell]

I may be Teening myself. But a vhs, and it didn't have any label on it. It was a blank one. So you knew it was either, like a good TV movie or series that was recorded. So I not realizing it was a sermon. And that's actually how I gave my heart to Christ. Truly. Just saying I'm doing this just more out of a. I just need to get into heaven. Not really a relationship again.

[Joni Lamb]

Yeah, but it was the seed that was planted.

[Molly Sewell]

Absolutely.

[Joni Lamb]

And you were sincere. You know, the Bible talks about, Lorenzo, that if you don't go on with discipleship and the word of God and fellowship, that seed's gonna either way, right? Yeah.

[Lorenzo Sewell]

We have to work out our own salvation with fear, with trembling. Right. When we receive the seed of the Word, the enemy comes immediately to try to steal the word. And that's what happened with me.

[Reginald Watts]

Right.

[Lorenzo Sewell]

Got hurt in the church. Backslid. And the day before I met Molly,

[Joni Lamb]

I prayed, even though you're not really serving the Lord.

[Lorenzo Sewell]

Not really. I had already pastored. I pastored my first church when I was 21. Had already preached, and I was hurting the church and hurt my pastor, and I ran from God.

[Joni Lamb]

You were hurt by the church, heard by pastor. So you kind of just went back into your own life, back to the world.

[Lorenzo Sewell]

And it was interesting. While in the world, people would walk up to me like, there's something like, I don't know. You don't.

[Anna Kendall]

You're there.

[Lorenzo Sewell]

Like, you don't. You shouldn't be here type of thing.

[Reginald Watts]

Right.

[Molly Sewell]

Different.

[Lorenzo Sewell]

And the night that Molly and I

[Joni Lamb]

met, literally, your dad was with you.

[Lorenzo Sewell]

He was. He was present with me, and he was my wingman. Can you imagine that?

[Molly Sewell]

Yeah.

[Joni Lamb]

Okay. So your dad was there with you and actually said to you, molly, he's

[Molly Sewell]

like, you're kind of cute. My son doesn't do this type of thing. He's really shy. I think you guys. He's like, I think you guys would be good for each other.

[Joni Lamb]

Oh, that is so funny. So you got with him.

[Molly Sewell]

Got with him. It was a couple hours.

[Joni Lamb]

Went to a bar.

[Molly Sewell]

Went to a bar. Throwing back some shots. Now, listen, we were not saved. I was not walking with the Lord at that time. I had given my heart to Christ saying, I just need to be in heaven. Had no clue what this actual relationship really looked like.

[Joni Lamb]

How old were you at that point when you met Lorenzo?

[Molly Sewell]

23.

[Joni Lamb]

About 23.

[Molly Sewell]

Yeah.

[Joni Lamb]

Okay, so, Lorenzo, what are you doing in a bar doing shots?

[Molly Sewell]

What in the world?

[Joni Lamb]

You were a pastor, right?

[Reginald Watts]

Yes.

[Lorenzo Sewell]

Yes. Yeah, Yeah. I was already I had a pastor that preached my first sermon.

[Joni Lamb]

The whole night you were medicating your hurt.

[Lorenzo Sewell]

There it is.

[Reginald Watts]

Totally.

[Lorenzo Sewell]

I was medicating my hurt.

[Joni Lamb]

Yes, sir.

[Lorenzo Sewell]

But the day before, I prayed and I said, God, the next woman I meet. This is my prayer, Lord, the next woman I meet, I'm going to marry.

[Anna Kendall]

Ooh, that is dangerous.

[Molly Sewell]

That was not my prayer. I had just gotten out of a five year relationship. I was like, I'm free, I'm single, I got my own place, I work downtown. Let's do this. And then I literally bumped into you. And from that day, we literally have not been separated. A week later, after I met him, he was down on one knee asking me to marry him with a little paper ring, like, would make these beautiful little, like, cheesy, right? But I kept them all. Cause it's like, it's a symbolic, like, little thing. And I just looked at him, I said, listen, I said, we're having fun. Let's just get to know each other. I said, I don't even know how to pronounce your last name. So absolutely not. We're not doing this thing right now.

[Joni Lamb]

So you were. There was a part of you that knew that if you continued in the relationship, you wanted to do it the right way. So you proposed.

[Lorenzo Sewell]

Absolutely.

[Joni Lamb]

So you waited, like, that's crazy. How many years?

[Molly Sewell]

So we ended up waiting a year and a half to get married.

[Joni Lamb]

So y' all are just kind of fornicating and drinking? Yes.

[Molly Sewell]

We're living a simple life, all the

[Joni Lamb]

things and doing all the things. But, Lorenzo, what are you thinking about, as far as, you know, what's right and wrong?

[Lorenzo Sewell]

Absolutely.

[Joni Lamb]

And, you know, that's the thing about it. Like, people who are doing this, like, people right now, even some of you watching, there's a call of God on your life, and you're out doing things you know you shouldn't do. And there's coming a point that God's going to say, okay, it's time to choose.

[Lorenzo Sewell]

Absolutely.

[Joni Lamb]

And so, I mean, he'll let you string out for a while, but there will come a day of reckoning where you have to make a decision.

[Lorenzo Sewell]

Absolutely.

[Joni Lamb]

Or you set yourself in a situation where the enemy can destroy you.

[Lorenzo Sewell]

Absolutely.

[Joni Lamb]

Is that right?

[Reginald Watts]

Yes.

[Lorenzo Sewell]

And we were at that point. But the Holy Spirit, he's so kind to us. The Bible talks about the patience and the forbearance of God in the book of Romans.

[Joni Lamb]

And he knows a broken and wounded heart.

[Lorenzo Sewell]

Absolutely.

[Joni Lamb]

So he takes into account the things of you being adopted, some of the Things you went through personally, the brokenness in your heart and your spirit. So he, you know, that's why we can't judge people, right?

[Molly Sewell]

Amen.

[Joni Lamb]

Because we can't judge somebody else's heart.

[Molly Sewell]

Exactly.

[Joni Lamb]

We can't. Okay, so. But there came a day, really, where God was like, okay, it's time to make a decision.

[Lorenzo Sewell]

So I'm going to tell you the day for me, but I want you to share what happened with you. So for me, the Lord orchestrated it. He used ministry. He really used an opportunity to preach and to minister. And then he used a pastor who was from Nigeria. He used him to. He brought him and that church family in my life to help me remember what it meant to love God and to serve God and to live.

[Joni Lamb]

Right?

[Molly Sewell]

Yes, yes, yes.

[Joni Lamb]

I mean, that's like, oh, absolutely. So important. So tell me your moment when you turned and like, I can't do this anymore.

[Lorenzo Sewell]

Yeah. I was kneeling down, praying to speak at a conference, and the Lord was like, I mean, you're living with somebody that is not your wife.

[Joni Lamb]

You're asking him for a sermon, and he's like, seriously, get your soul right.

[Lorenzo Sewell]

And it was that day that I proposed, officially, got a ring, and we went down to the courthouse, and that was the day we decided.

[Joni Lamb]

But did you see something different, Molly and him, that day?

[Molly Sewell]

Um. You know, there was a lot of things that had to change before I said yes. So for me, it's not like, I'm gonna have a ring today. I can, and then I'm gonna find another man tomorrow. It's a one and done for me. Right. Like, I knew enough about scripture to be like, okay, like, when I'm meeting my husband, I'm leaving my family to form another family here. So that, to me, was very important. Although I may not have known, like, scripturally where it was. I just knew.

[Joni Lamb]

And y' all had children at this point?

[Molly Sewell]

Yeah, had kids. And he had. He was begging me. He said, molly, before Isabella is born, please, we need to do this the right way. Please honor me. And I looked at him and I said, I'd rather call you my baby daddy than an ex or a divorcee. I'm not gonna do that.

[Anna Kendall]

Was there something about the relationship that made you unsure?

[Molly Sewell]

A lot of things. Just the way that we were living our lives, we were living with God

[Joni Lamb]

because you had seen the fruit of God, Really? The change from that prayer?

[Molly Sewell]

No, of him.

[Joni Lamb]

But you began to see a difference.

[Molly Sewell]

I did. So after Isabella was born, we decided, okay, you know what? We really need to be in ministry. Like, Molly, you've gone to church, so you kind of know what it's about. You don't know what my ministry is about, but I'm going to start introducing you slowly. Wow. And it was something that we just prayed over. We ended up getting invited to a prayer meeting on a Saturday in Westland, Michigan.

[Joni Lamb]

Are you married at this point?

[Molly Sewell]

We were not married at this point. No.

[Lorenzo Sewell]

It was West Bloomfield. We were married and West Bloomfield. Yeah.

[Molly Sewell]

Well, we were married. Yeah.

[Lorenzo Sewell]

Maybe.

[Molly Sewell]

Maybe.

[Lorenzo Sewell]

It had been maybe six months.

[Molly Sewell]

Yeah, it wasn't long.

[Joni Lamb]

Yeah.

[Molly Sewell]

So we find ourselves in this ministry in West Bloomfield. This pastor is straight out of Africa, super thick accent, but he's praying the house down. Like, you can just tell the thickness of the spirit is on him. I didn't know it at that time, but really looking back, you just knew

[Joni Lamb]

the presence of God was there.

[Molly Sewell]

The presence of God was thick. During that same time, I had lost communication with my father. He did not approve of the relationship that I was in with my husband. The fact that I had moved so far away. He was just like, at this point, I'm basically disowning you from the family. I will never talk to you again. These kids are not my grandchildren type of deal. Wow. So here I am. Broken heart, right? I'm like, you know what?

[Joni Lamb]

Let's go to prayer.

[Molly Sewell]

Let's just do it. You know what? If God is real, I'm just gonna give it all to him. So that day, we're. We find ourselves in this prayer meeting. He's like, anybody who has a special prayer request, just come up. Just come up. I'm like, all right, dude, here I go. So I walk up, and there's a line of people. And now listen. Like, I'm really unchurched in this. The Lutheran church does not do that. You sit, you're quiet. You keep your head down. You're not talking back to a pastor. You're not saying amen and preach it, brother. Like, you're not doing that, right? So this was completely different for me. So I find myself sitting, standing there, and he's like, just close your eyes and just petition it to the Lord. Ask him what you want. So here I am, closing my eyes, and I'm specifically praying for a relationship with my dad. Lifting my hands, doing the whole thing. Anything that this pastor is telling me to do, I'm like, all right, obviously, you know the Lord. Let me get a little trickle of it, right? Yeah. So I'm closing my eyes. I'm praying this prayer And I feel like this egg gets dropped on my head, and I feel this heavy, warm sensation just trickle down my body. And I feel this immense amount of pressure on my head. I open my eyes thinking that it's the pastor, like, trying to, like, shove me down.

[Joni Lamb]

Right.

[Molly Sewell]

No one is around me, not one person. And I was like, all right, God, I've given it to you. I don't know what this is. It just freaked me out. I remember I told. I was like, this is weird. Like, what happened? Like, somebody touched me. And he's like, no, no one's around you. He's like, you're feeling the Holy Spirit. That's what it is.

[Joni Lamb]

That's when the presence of God.

[Molly Sewell]

Yes.

[Joni Lamb]

Do you know how many people I've interviewed over the last 40 years, believe it or not, where they actually talk about at the top of their head, they felt this warmth. Warmth. Liquid kind of, you know. And so that was your surrender moment.

[Molly Sewell]

Yeah.

[Joni Lamb]

But you really meant it.

[Molly Sewell]

I did. I was surrendering it for my father, for my relationship, that broken relationship that I knew.

[Joni Lamb]

And what happened?

[Molly Sewell]

So fast forward, we find ourselves saying we are going to be fully committed to ministry. Like, that prayer meeting just changed something in our relationship.

[Joni Lamb]

We're gonna live right.

[Molly Sewell]

Exactly. We're selling ourselves out to Christ at this point. So we were in real estate. We were doing very well for ourselves. I had found myself in another serving position where I was making three, four hundred dollars a month.

[Joni Lamb]

And Lorenzo not doing well at anything. I believe he could tell us, eskimo and divine and rescue.

[Lorenzo Sewell]

Yes, I can.

[Joni Lamb]

So you really need this?

[Molly Sewell]

Yeah. So we find ourselves just saying, you know what, Lord? We're gonna surrender everything to you. We're not even sure what this looks like. We have a little bit in savings. We have two babies under three years old at this point. Okay, what are we doing? So a month goes by savings, start dropping an eviction notice comes up on our door. Hey, guys, can't be here anymore. So I'm like, dude, we have kids. Like, we're doing ministry. I was like, what does that look like, Lorenzo? I was like, you're the leader of our house spiritually. What's God saying to you? During that time, he had said, I am praying and I'm going to fast, and I'm going to specifically pray for leaders in our city. When God tells me to pack up, that's when you're packing up. Do not touch one thing in this place. And I was like, this place is huge. We have a lot of kids, like we have so many things going on. I said, I'm gonna need a significant amount of time to pack. And he says, don't pack one thing until God releases us to do it. He walks down the stairs. He's like, it's time. I go to U Haul. I'm like, calling all these people now. At this point, we have, like, $100 to our name. Like, there's nothing now. Like, we've completely depleted savings. And I remember us being at a storage unit. It was one of those storage units where it was like, a dollar for the first month, and then you gotta pay for the second. Whatever. So here we are. We have our things, and I'm about to sign a piece of paper, and I get a phone call, and it's my dad. I haven't talked to him in a year and a half.

[Joni Lamb]

But you do pray?

[Molly Sewell]

I did pray. And it's all in God's timing, right? So, of course I'm like, all right, well, great. Thanks, dad, for calling me on, like, the worst day of my life. And he's like, listen, I have a doctor's appointment in West Bloomfield. I want to know if you're still at the same place. I want to come by and see you and the kids. And I said, actually, we're in the middle of moving. I don't really know where we're going. I gotta let you go. So I hang up the phone. So I'm like, this sucks. Like, okay, now I'm just basically. And I had also prayed a prayer. God help us serve you all the days of our life, even if that means living out of the trunk of our car. So I find myself literally walking in answered prayers, but cursing God at the same time. Like, seriously, like, out of all the prayers that you could have listened to and moved on my behalf, these are the ones like, okay, Jesus, you got a great sense of humor, Lord.

[Joni Lamb]

Thank you.

[Molly Sewell]

So we're standing there, my phone rings again. It's my dad. And he says, listen. He says, you know Betsy? So that was his girlfriend at the time. He says, betsy and I, we just bought a new home. We've been trying to get renters for her house. We don't like anybody that we've been interviewing. The house is fully renovated. It's clean. Move here. We'll figure out the details later.

[Joni Lamb]

Wow, that's amazing.

[Molly Sewell]

Same day, same day, same day, same day. My dad at the time does not know the Lord. He's not in ministry. He hates my husband. That's the reason why we ended up not Talking. There were so many things, but the way that God orchestrated it. So through that prayer, through complete surrender. Right. And asking God, restore this relationship. I desperately need this relationship. Not realizing God's like, actually, the relationship that you need to restore is with me. Wow. And I will do the rest.

[Joni Lamb]

Tell us about some of the conversations you had where you saw that turn take place. Because I know when he began to talk to you and see your heart, see your spirit, had to make a difference.

[Lorenzo Sewell]

Well, yeah, he was born in a context where people that look like me, he didn't necessarily believe the best about them. And then he saw what God was doing in our lives. Grandchildren, yes. Grandbabies.

[Joni Lamb]

Pretty grandchildren. They really have a way. We have a picture, whole family.

[Lorenzo Sewell]

So, yeah, having grandbabies, that helped. And then I believe also him understanding that I never anticipated our lives to be this way. I remember our youngest, Naomi, who's 14 now. When she was born, I called him and I apologized. And the reason why I apologized because I never wanted him to feel like I was putting more of a burden on him. And I believe those moments. And then the moment when he gave his heart to Christ. You want to tell the story about when he gave his heart to Christ.

[Molly Sewell]

So I think it's a power of inviting somebody to church. You know, when you think about family members that you truly love, that you truly have a deep relationship with, but you don't offer Christ and salvation to them, it's a disservice. You can't really truly love anybody. And so I remember this was when we had Naomi. Naomi was about six months. This is our youngest daughter, who's now 14. We were serving at a church in Sterling Heights at that time. And what I loved about the church was that they had this beautiful atrium where they had a large screen. You could do coffee and donuts, essentially, and still be a part of service, but not in the sanctuary. And so every Sunday, be like, all right, dad, you know the drill. I'm gonna be here. This is the address. This is the service time. Come. Just, if anything, hang out with me and the kids. Like, we're out in the atrium, right? So for the umpteenth time, I invited him thinking about, don't give up on these people. Come on.

[Joni Lamb]

If you're inviting a church, don't give up on them.

[Molly Sewell]

So don't give up, right? So here I am. I invite him, sitting in the atrium, and it happens to be communion Sunday. Okay? So we're sitting there, Communion's being passed out, and Pastor Randy is talking about what the wafer symbolizes, what the juice symbolizes, Right? Like, how important this is. And I hear behind me, this is all they give to you for lunch around here. I'm like, I can't even claim him right now. Like, I don't know who that guy is.

[Reginald Watts]

Is that him?

[Molly Sewell]

So I bring my dad around, and my dad's like, well, this is really weird. Like, what is this? Like, he's never seen a communion cup before, you know? So, like, you think about us like, okay, this is a normal thing. Like, this is.

[Joni Lamb]

Okay. We take it for granted.

[Molly Sewell]

Almost exactly. Exactly. It's a privilege. So Pastor Randy's up there and he's talking about it, and I said, dad, really, just give me the communion cup. I'm thankful that you're here at church, but really, you're gonna do a lot more damage to yourself by taking something that you have absolutely no idea what you're doing. I said, please don't do that to yourself. He's like, well, I wanna take it. He's like, well, what do I have to do? And I'm like, are you serious? So my dad's a very dry, sarcastic type of guy. And I said, okay, well, first of all, you gotta believe in Jesus. I said, do you even believe in Jesus? He's like, yeah. I said, so you actually believe that he actually walked this earth at one point? That he's a part of history, right? And he says, yeah. I said, so you believe that he was actually the son of God? And he's like, I can get behind that. I said, okay. So then, like, I'm like, grabbing the Bible, and I'm like, okay. So I'm like, trying to flip to Romans real quick. And I'm like, so did you believe that he actually, like, died, like, on a cross and just trying to, like, really bring it down? Just very element. He's like, yeah. He's like, I believe all these things, man. Like, I'm here in church. Like, yeah, I believe he wrote on this third day and go through the whole thing. And I said, all right, well, repeat this prayer after me.

[Joni Lamb]

Wow.

[Molly Sewell]

He prays the prayer, we take it now there's worship. So, like, we're worshiping, and I'm just sobbing, and he's looking at me. He's like, it was that bad, Molly. I'm like, this is such a solid moment. Just be quiet. I said, just be quiet and just listen to the worship. And it was just in that moment, right? So anytime that you think, okay, this person's just not listening to me anymore. They completely. They're disregarding me. They don't even read my text messages anymore. Don't give up.

[Joni Lamb]

Yes.

[Molly Sewell]

Do not give up.

[Joni Lamb]

And was there a change that took place when he prayed that prayer?

[Molly Sewell]

So, you know, my dad is a type of person where he's not going to be in Bible studies, he's not going to do all these things. But he was very inquisitive about all the ministry things that we were doing. He's like, so what do you guys do? Exactly. So it was more of before, hey, I'm really glad that you guys are out there. Or all of a sudden he wanted

[Joni Lamb]

to be a part of it.

[Molly Sewell]

And then he was like, you know what, this is interesting. This is interesting work that you guys are doing. So he would come and visit our churches as we were planting churches. He would come through. He'd be the only white guy there, but he would come through and he'd be like, just stand there. He didn't know the words, but he was like, everybody's so friendly. He's like, I really like your church.

[Joni Lamb]

And the sanctification process for some takes time. It takes time. But over time, you could probably see the fruit right in her dad.

[Lorenzo Sewell]

Absolutely. I mean, even some of the comments he would make about race, you could see his heart was changed.

[Anna Kendall]

I'm curious though, because we heard how he came to be in relationship with you, but how did you overcome, like the years of hurt, of feeling rejected?

[Molly Sewell]

And I think a lot of it

[Lorenzo Sewell]

is when you're in love, you don't care what you have to do. So because I wanted to be with her, I didn't really even look at what he was doing. I just knew that whatever I had to do to win him over, I'd be willing to do. And once he confessed Christ as his savior, it was like, wow. Now the relationship becomes, you're not just my father in law, you're my brother.

[Joni Lamb]

Wow. And he really honored and respected what you were doing.

[Lorenzo Sewell]

Absolutely.

[Joni Lamb]

But you did at some point had to forgive and let that go.

[Lorenzo Sewell]

Oh, absolutely. I mean, when we first met, I mean, they had a crazy dog.

[Molly Sewell]

We do still have a crazy dog on our own.

[Lorenzo Sewell]

And that dog, when that dog came after me, I said, okay, here's my decision.

[Reginald Watts]

I love this woman, I'm going to be with her.

[Lorenzo Sewell]

And I think a part of that was also understanding I was going to accept him and love him regardless of whatever, whatever. And he was very supportive. You know, he's gone home to be with the Lord, actually A couple weeks before President Trump came to our church.

[Joni Lamb]

Wow. But he got to see so much fruit.

[Lorenzo Sewell]

Absolutely.

[Joni Lamb]

In your life and in your ministry, April, is that not incredible? It's amazing. And I go way back to how you outlasted the enemy because you were hurt by a pastor. He thought he took you out, you became a pastor. Look at the impact that you're making. And, you know, God can use anybody, but we can't let the enemy win.

[Molly Sewell]

You know, I love a great testimony. This is a great testimony.

[Lorenzo Sewell]

Praise God.

[Reginald Watts]

Yes.

[Joni Lamb]

It really is. And Rachel, you know, for people watching and they think there are people watching that you once serve the Lord and you can understand because you're not really. And God is just calling you back. I mean, he's saying, you know, come home. Come to this place of knowing that there's no better place in the universe than being in the will of God.

[Anna Kendall]

I love that the Lord doesn't give up on any of us. It doesn't matter what we've done, where we've been, who we've been with. He's always calling us home. And all we have to do is accept that invitation and come back in relationship with him, and he can use us greatly. And y' all's story is a testament to that.

[Reginald Watts]

So good.

[Joni Lamb]

So good. Would you just pray a simple prayer with people watching right now?

[Lorenzo Sewell]

Absolutely.

[Joni Lamb]

And just. We'll pray after you and give them an opportunity. Just like she did with her dad.

[Lorenzo Sewell]

Yeah. If you're watching right now and you would say, pastor, the story resonates, right? You listen to Molly's story. Know that's for God's glory. Why don't you repeat after me? Say, Jesus. Jesus, come into my life. Come into my life and save me, Lord. Forgive me, Lord. Forgive me for everything that I've done. I believe you're married to the backslider. I'm coming home, Jesus. I'm coming home today. I believe that you died for me and that you rose again. Be my Lord and be my savior.

[Joni Lamb]

Be my savior.

[Lorenzo Sewell]

In Jesus name. Amen.

[Joni Lamb]

Amen. That'd be good. Amen to you. Oh, amen. Steps of the righteous are ordered by God. And your lives brought your dad to know the Lord Jesus Christ. So what? A. And so the church in Detroit, tell everybody where it is.

[Molly Sewell]

Yeah.

[Lorenzo Sewell]

180 Church. It's in Detroit, Michigan. You can check it out.

[Joni Lamb]

It's in the hood.

[Anna Kendall]

And the hood.

[Lorenzo Sewell]

It's in the hood.

[Reginald Watts]

Hood.

[Lorenzo Sewell]

So you have the hood.

[Joni Lamb]

So if you get lost, just say, I need to find the Hood. Hood.

[Lorenzo Sewell]

Yes.

[Joni Lamb]

People direct you to our church.

[Reginald Watts]

Literally.

[Joni Lamb]

That's awesome. That's awesome. We love you guys and thank you for being here and thank you for sharing Molly. Such a great story. We're out of time. Thank you. But I want you to remember, no matter how hopeless life may feel, God forgotten you. He can redeem your past. He can restore your family and he can turn your greatest struggles into a powerful testimony of his faithfulness. If you're watching today and you need prayer, call the number on your screen. We have the most amazing prayer partners who are standing by ready to pray with you. If you prayed that prayer with Pastor Lorenzo, call us. We'd love to send you the book of John. It's a great place to start in the word of God. That's just our gift to you. Absolutely free because we love you. I'm so excited that you prayed that prayer. Some of you. I'm so excited that you came back home. We've been waiting for you. He's been waiting for you. And God's going to do some great things in the days ahead. Well, I do want to thank Lorenzo and Molly for joining us. To know more about their ministry, visit 180Church CC. As always, make sure to follow us on all social media. You can subscribe to our YouTube channel for full episodes and exclusive content. Let us know how Table Talk is touching your life. We love hearing from all of you. Of course you can also listen to the Joni Table Talk podcast available now on all the major platforms. But thank you so much for watching. We love you. You know, it's never too late. It's just like Rachel said, doesn't matter what you've done, doesn't matter where you've been, doesn't matter how many mistakes. Jesus is always there saying come unto me all ye that labor and heavy laden, I will give you rest in peace. Receive Jesus today. We'll see you next time. Bye bye. For today,

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[Joni Lamb]

work supported me while I was going through treatment by not treating me like somebody who was going through treatment. Treatment sucks. Cancer sucks. Being engaged with work really helped to

[Molly Sewell]

oh, I just knew I was going to beat this day.

[Reginald Watts]

Research shows there is a significant connection between the ability to continue to work and cancer recovery. We can make work a better place

[Joni Lamb]

for healing, learn more and sign the

[Chelsea Handler]

[e-mail] this season on Dear Chelsea with me, Chelsea Handler. We've got some incredible guests like Kumail Nanjiani. Let's start with your cat. How is she?

[Joni Lamb]

She is not with us anymore.

[Chelsea Handler]

Okay, great, great, great. Way to start. Maybe you will cry. Ross Matthews, you know what kids always say to me? Are you a boy or a girl?

[Joni Lamb]

Oh, my God. All the time. I know.

[Chelsea Handler]

So I try to butch it up for kids so they're not confused. Yeah, but you're butching it up. It's basically like an angry woman. Doris Day, right? No, I turn into Bea Arthur. Listen to these episodes of Dear Chelsea on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Joni Lamb]

Well, from the grip of addiction and crime to a life sentence in one of America's most notorious prisons, our guest today has walked through it all. But instead of defeat, God gave him freedom and an unexpected calling. And he's here to share his incredible story from his book From Crack to the Breaking the Chains of Addiction and Finding Freedom behind Bars. But before we get to that, joining me around the table is Cindy Johnston. How are you?

[Molly Sewell]

Hey.

[Joni Lamb]

I'm doing great. Doing great. Happy to be here today with all of you beautiful ladies. And we always love testimonies, right? Yes. Well, God came. He came to set the captives free. Yes. And this is going to be a beautiful story of God's redeeming love and what he can do at the lowest of lows of our times. That's right. Anna Kendall, how are you doing?

[Molly Sewell]

I am great.

[Joni Lamb]

And you know this story reminds me of the.

[Molly Sewell]

Who was that Paul Harvey that used

[Joni Lamb]

to say for the rest of the story? Because if you had looked at this

[Molly Sewell]

life halfway, you would think it's hopeless.

[Joni Lamb]

But look at what God has done. The rest of the story is beautiful. We're going to hear the whole story.

[Molly Sewell]

Yes.

[Joni Lamb]

Rachel Lamb Brown, you ready?

[Anna Kendall]

I'm ready. And our God is the God in the impossible. Your situation might look like it is beyond.

[Joni Lamb]

That's right.

[Anna Kendall]

There's anything that you can do, but with Jesus.

[Joni Lamb]

Miracles from heaven.

[Molly Sewell]

Amen.

[Joni Lamb]

Dorothy Newton, how are you doing today? Doing good. Excited. You know, there's so many great testimonies in the Bible, but to hear and

[Molly Sewell]

witness testimonies today gives so much hope.

[Joni Lamb]

Really does. We're so glad to have Reginald Watts at the table. Welcome.

[Reginald Watts]

Glad to be here.

[Joni Lamb]

How are you feeling? Safe with all these women?

[Reginald Watts]

No, I'm not. I'm feeling. No, no.

[Joni Lamb]

All right.

[Reginald Watts]

I was safer in prison.

[Joni Lamb]

No, you're gonna do fine with these women. I promise you. Well, he went from crack houses to prison cells to preaching the gospel in the very place he was once locked away. And Reginald's story shows that no one is ever too far from God. And today we're going to hear how he's bringing hope to some of the toughest hearts behind bars. Your book, From Crack to the Cross. Let's just start at the beginning. Growing up. Tell me about your family.

[Reginald Watts]

Oh, I had a. I was a baby boy.

[Joni Lamb]

You know.

[Reginald Watts]

You know what that means, right? I kind of had. Yes, I was.

[Joni Lamb]

That means mama's favorite, all that, Right?

[Reginald Watts]

But, you know, inside it was different than outside. My brothers were tough on me. Not in a jealous manner, but they wanted me to be. They just wanted me to be the best I could be in the house and everything. And outside, they didn't want anybody messing with me. And so I started things knowing I had plenty of backup. I had three older brothers. So I say this. I had to leave it to beaver type of life coming up.

[Joni Lamb]

Wow.

[Reginald Watts]

I was just going. Doing touching, moving. But there was no crime in our family. There was no. And so I guess I could be the black sheep of the family. But we. My dad had trash trucks, so we grew up working. We grew up with $5 in our pocket, $10 in our pocket. I know today that don't sound like much, but I'm 60 years old, so what we talking about? That was a nice bit of money. And my mom would always say this. She said, what you gonna do with it? That's all I Want to know? I need to know what you're going to do with it. It's different from today. Parents don't know what their kids have or what they're doing. And so we had accountability in the family. We had curfews, we got allowance, but we had a curfew. We had to beat the street lights home.

[Joni Lamb]

You went to church?

[Reginald Watts]

Yes, but I wasn't receiving anything because I went because I was told to go.

[Joni Lamb]

Right.

[Reginald Watts]

And so it was a different type of church, if you will. I know church is people, but that place where I went, I went because I was ordered by family to go rather than. Rather than being going to church and worshiping and feeling the movement of God and going in to receive from God. I looked at my little Superman watch, probably more than hearing the person that was speaking.

[Anna Kendall]

What do you think it is that led you to go down the wrong path, especially since you grew up in such a solid family? Cause normally, you see, you said it.

[Reginald Watts]

Getting away from that solid family, teaching.

[Joni Lamb]

Well, yeah. And you graduated high school, you did well, and then you went on to college.

[Reginald Watts]

Yes.

[Joni Lamb]

And you're actually in a fraternity.

[Reginald Watts]

Yeah, I was in my. I was in. I didn't make it. I didn't. I was in my junior year and I was asked by several fraternities to play as my brother was drum major. He was there and he was getting ready to graduate when I first got there. So I even got in the band for the college work study, money. Be light on my family. When you make a left, when you know it, right. And right now I'm talking about physical, direct, geographically speaking, if you make a left, even with the GPS system and the GPS says go right, you're going to have to recalibrate, right. You're going to have to do something different. Because if you continue to go left, you're going to get as far away from your destiny as than ever. You're going to continue to get further and further and further away. And so I was supposed to be going right, and I knew I was supposed to be going right.

[Joni Lamb]

Well, that's the key right there. It's like you're going to make some decisions. And although, like, you don't have a relationship with the Lord at that point, you still morally know what is right and wrong.

[Reginald Watts]

Correct.

[Joni Lamb]

And your mom and dad had taught you that.

[Reginald Watts]

That's right.

[Joni Lamb]

So. But instead of going right, tell us what you did. And the thing about it, I was

[Reginald Watts]

in my junior year and I told you as a kid, I was always reaching and Touching and turning things the other way to see how it would be not to hurt anybody or not to, you know, turn over the apple cart just the way I was. And being a baby boy, I got away with a lot of things like that. And I went to this frat party invited, you know, I was always well groomed. And I went in the back room invited when I went in the back room. What they call crack today was free basin then. And so I tried it just because. And to answer your question is that I got away from what my mother taught us. And I say my mother, my dad taught as well. But my mom, as with most women, they were the vocal, yes, they was the one with the apron on cooking, but they was also the one that would hit you with that cooking spoon. And so I knew better. Some people don't. Some people are ignorant. Some people are raised in a household, that's all they see. And so for them, that is their truth. That was not my truth.

[Joni Lamb]

So that happened the first time?

[Reginald Watts]

Yeah.

[Joni Lamb]

And did you think, like, I'm not going to do that again?

[Reginald Watts]

Yeah, right. When I walked out there, I was like, that's a waste of time. That's a waste of time. I had a little euphoria. Live good feeling. But that was it. I went back and smoked the marijuana, you know, and went home to school. Everything good? Well, I don't know, maybe a month or so later. I don't know exactly how long I tried it again. This time it was a little different. I did experience what cocaine does.

[Joni Lamb]

So you went the second time. How soon after the second time did you go again?

[Reginald Watts]

I want to say the very next weekend.

[Joni Lamb]

The very next weekend.

[Reginald Watts]

But it stayed weekend for a while. I wouldn't do anything true through the week.

[Joni Lamb]

Were you thinking about it during the week?

[Reginald Watts]

Yes, yes. That next semester I had to. Yeah, I had to drop out of school. And now my mom's heart is going to be broken. So my brother said, let's not tell her. Let's not tell her about this semester. You get right back in. And I had the college work study going.

[Anna Kendall]

So your brother was trying to help you?

[Reginald Watts]

Yeah, most definitely. And what happened was I got hold to some drugs for a Colombian guy. And what I would do is he would give me the drugs. He wanted me to go score marijuana with the drugs because they want to keep their money. They don't want to spend their money because that's what they. And so I would do that for him and then he would break me off. Well, one time he gave Me a nice bit. And so I went the same route that I go. But when I turned the corner, I jumped the fence. I come up the next street running, and I took off. So I left him sitting in the vehicle. I don't know how long he stayed there. Well, they tore up my apartment because they knew where I lived.

[Joni Lamb]

So you stole from them? That was.

[Reginald Watts]

Yeah, and they tore up the apartment. So some days later, I went to my brother. I still didn't go to the apartment. When I went to my brother's house, he told me. He said, man, what's going on? He said, you haven't been home. Your apartment is torn to pieces. So I told him what was happening. He said, you're going home. You're going to New Orleans. I don't care what you tell Mom. I don't care what you. You out of here. I'll go get some clothes out of the little bit that you have left. But you leaving. And so that's how I wound up leaving Houston, got to New Orleans. I hid it for a while. Told mom I was burnt out with school, and I told her I would go back, but I might just go to college.

[Joni Lamb]

But you're still doing cocaine.

[Reginald Watts]

Not yet.

[Joni Lamb]

Okay, not yet.

[Reginald Watts]

Wasn't long. Couple of weeks. That was it.

[Joni Lamb]

But where are you getting the money now?

[Reginald Watts]

My dad has a lucrative business. All I have to do is get in one of the trucks I'm gonna be. And he also worked at Lakeside Shopping center, which at that time was the biggest mall in New Orleans. He picked up trash for half the stores out there. So they remember me. So I go in the stores. I'm Mr. Watson.

[Molly Sewell]

Right.

[Reginald Watts]

And so when I go in to get the back door open, they would just leave and say, close the door, like they always did. Since I was a little boy, they trusted me.

[Joni Lamb]

Because of your father, they trusted me. But you went in there, choplet.

[Reginald Watts]

Oh, my God. I would leave out with. I'm still repenting from some of that stuff, man. I'm telling you, as I remember it,

[Joni Lamb]

you know, this is how you would be able to continue to get drugs.

[Reginald Watts]

Yeah. And it's every day. And I remember one time I left my dad and another helper out there working because I had so much stuff. I got a cab, and the cab driver said, what is all that stuff? I said, man, this is stuff we shipping from one store to another. And so I filled up his trunk. I filled up the back seat. But what I did was I showed him I had some money. I showed him the money. Up front. I said, how much you think this is going to be to go to, you know, I gave him the address. He said, probably about $10. Well, you know, I gave him more. And he zoomed on away from that and we. And we. I'm sober at this time. Not sobriety sober. Just waiting to get to the next fix. And so where he dropped me off at, I took the stuff. He said, you just gonna leave it here? I said, yeah, the truck is gonna come get it. And so I paid him and he went on and I called a couple. Anytime you're doing drugs, you have connections, right? Just like with you with this, you have connections. You have people that you're connected with in other states. And so we got guys come out, they see it because they know now with all of this, he gonna break me off something too. And so here I am with probably four or five hundred dollars of merchandise that I'm gonna get only one third for. You're supposed to give you half, but they know that you're desperate, and so they're gonna give you one third. And so they last a couple of days. Now here I am back late for work again. Dad has to fire. I got fired three or four times from the family job.

[Anna Kendall]

Wow.

[Joni Lamb]

Wow. Okay, so let's fast forward to you just becoming an addict every day and robbery and continuing to shoplift. And you get called and you get prison. I mean, you get jail time.

[Reginald Watts]

Shoplifting. Shoplifting ran out because they knew my face. So that's what started me to robbing because I couldn't go into the. I couldn't go into the business places anymore.

[Joni Lamb]

Did you have a gun with you when you did that?

[Reginald Watts]

Never.

[Joni Lamb]

Never. Okay.

[Reginald Watts]

Not even one time.

[Joni Lamb]

Okay.

[Reginald Watts]

I had people run me out of places. You don't even look the part.

[Joni Lamb]

Okay, so let's get to the sentence.

[Reginald Watts]

They sentenced me to one year. I got out. I went straight and got high, but I didn't go back right away. But it wasn't long. So in 93, I was picked up for two consular armed robbery, one counts, attempt armed robbery. I was given six years. When I went to court, they wouldn't give me six years. They wanted to give me six on each charge and run it consecutive, not concurrent, which means I would have 6, 12, 18. But I had a payload. When she come out the back, she said, six years? I said, yes, ma', am. I know I'm gonna take it. She said, no, not six on each charge. You're gonna get six years and do three. And I just. Just Was elated. I'm like, man, I'm gonna be out in a minute. Because I had been down a little while.

[Molly Sewell]

Yeah.

[Reginald Watts]

Already I've been locked up. Well, I got out. I did three years. I got out. I was 223.

[Joni Lamb]

Like the Lord's trying to help you.

[Reginald Watts]

Trying.

[Joni Lamb]

He just keep missing opportunities.

[Reginald Watts]

Nobody has more chances than I have. Not one person on this earth. I was 223 pounds. I wasn't fat anywhere. I'm like 205 now. So I was 223 and 48 days later, I returned on robberies. I was 159 pounds.

[Lorenzo Sewell]

Wow.

[Reginald Watts]

Yeah. I was 159 when they did the mug shot.

[Joni Lamb]

Wow. And so what happened? What did they give you that time?

[Reginald Watts]

They gave me life.

[Joni Lamb]

And what did that mean?

[Reginald Watts]

That was my third conviction in Louisiana. That meant that I would die in prison. Because life has no outs, no parole, no probation, no suspension of sentence.

[Joni Lamb]

And you were in Angola, one of the.

[Reginald Watts]

Yes.

[Joni Lamb]

That's a rough. That was a rough prison back then.

[Reginald Watts]

Yes. I went with my hand balled up all the way, I believe. Only reason why I remember is because when I tried to open them, I couldn't. And I looked at my hands and I had nail prints in my hand. Well, but the man with the nail, scarred hands.

[Joni Lamb]

He's coming. He's coming. Okay, so you're in Angola.

[Lorenzo Sewell]

You've got a life.

[Reginald Watts]

I'm in the belly of the beast.

[Joni Lamb]

And so how long before you had a moment? Like, we want to hear about that because this is depressing right now. We need to get to Jesus. We need to get to Jesus.

[Reginald Watts]

I had a moment of the Gideon Bible moment.

[Joni Lamb]

So what happened that day? You're in the cell and you're making it to where you're doing something so that it doesn't close all the way?

[Reginald Watts]

Yeah. Right. Well, what happens is there's a chain that brings it back when he turns it. So once he turns it, the lights are connected, the connection. So light goes off. It comes on whenever it moves away. So he'll know what cell is open. Cell 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, all the way to 14. I'm in cell 5. Cause I'm the tier rep. I'm running the tier. I'm the tier rep. So I'm in the one man cell. And so when he leaves to go to do security business, I time him every night. And I would. And I'd rack it back and then I push it back just close enough to touch but not lock. Then I Would go around and give lights, and I would get cookies and chips and stuff for a light.

[Joni Lamb]

Dorothy is shaking her head over you, Reginald.

[Reginald Watts]

Oh, my God, Ms. Dorothy. I was terrible. I was terrible.

[Joni Lamb]

So then they catch you?

[Reginald Watts]

Yeah, that night they caught. What happened was he left something in there that he had to get to go back. And he came back, and you're out and I'm out, and I'm so far away from my cell, I can't even dive on the floor and try to cry. He saw me as I saw him, I believe. And he was afraid because he wasn't a veteran officer. He was afraid, and he was like. And he hit every button in there, and everything went on, and it came running and, oh, they talked to me so bad that night, But I threw my hands up because I know that any type of resistance. I'm gonna get some broke ribs and stuff. So I went on in the cell. They brung a chain in. They chained the cell. And so they took everything out. All the Zuzus and wham whams. That's canteen. All your snacks. And they took all the books out except for the blue Gideon Bible.

[Joni Lamb]

I didn't know what the zuzus were earlier.

[Reginald Watts]

Booms and wham whams. That's what your cookies and your chips. And so they left the blue getting. I love to read. I love to read. You give me a good book, you give me an assignment to read you. You don't have to worry about it. I'll take care of it. Well, that was the only thing I grabbed, is I laid back on my bed. I knew this was going to be a long haul, so they took all

[Joni Lamb]

your reading material except the Bible.

[Reginald Watts]

They could not take the Bible.

[Joni Lamb]

They didn't take the Gideon. Amazing.

[Reginald Watts]

Constitutionally, they could not take that Bible.

[Joni Lamb]

Well, thank God for the Gideons.

[Reginald Watts]

Amen. Thank God for the Gideons. They make me tell that story every time they come to Angola.

[Joni Lamb]

I bet they do.

[Reginald Watts]

Every time they come to Portsmouth, they make me tell when they was in. So I started reading. I got to. I just opened it up because I'm really reading out of frustration and just something to do right now other than stare at the ceiling. As a convict, you never want to stare at the ceiling. And so I started reading, and it took me to Romans, chapter 7, verses 14 through 25. It said, we want to do what is right, but how to perform that which is right, we know, not how. And it goes on to say, that which I don't want to do is what I do. But that thing that I want to do, I don't know how. And say I'm in a poor, wrenched, torn state. And I was, because I always wanted to. My mom and dad taught me well, even my siblings. And I wanted to do what was right. But how to perform that was right. I didn't know how. Even when I was out there working on crack, when I had a job, I would say, before I get my check, I say, this is what I'm going to do. I'm going to pay my bills and drop this off, and then I'm going to get high. I never made it.

[Joni Lamb]

When you first read that, it kind of made you mad. You closed the Bible back.

[Reginald Watts]

Yeah. Yeah. Because God was telling me that I was weak.

[Joni Lamb]

Yeah. And so you're laying there. What happened? Did you pick it up again?

[Reginald Watts]

I threw the Bible down. I think I went to sleep and I got up and something was tugging at me. We called it something then, but I know what it was.

[Joni Lamb]

The Holy Spirit.

[Reginald Watts]

It was the Holy Spirit. So I picked it up. And I don't know where to find it because I don't know where I read at. But when I opened it up, I was laying on the back and I started reading Deadpoint right on that Scripture. And I read it and read it and read it. Romans 7, 14, 27. And I talked to God and I told God, I said, I can stop doing drugs anytime I get ready. God said, yeah, when you showed on

[Joni Lamb]

something, how's that working out for you?

[Reginald Watts]

How's that working for you? Right, right, right. And so the court came. The sentence came. Life sentence. Well, they gave me 25 years because they have to give you a number because I'm not on the murder. Anything. So they have to give you. Gave me 25. Yeah. Vacate the 25. Take that back and give your life. That's legal. That's the way that is done.

[Joni Lamb]

So when did you surrender? Like, I know you read that.

[Reginald Watts]

It wasn't right away.

[Joni Lamb]

So when did that moment. When did it.

[Reginald Watts]

I smoked some weed.

[Joni Lamb]

In prison?

[Reginald Watts]

Yeah. Oh, you can get anything you want. You can get anything you want. Anything. And so. Including security officers. Yeah. And so I was smoking. I got a little high and I was just tired. And I looked around everything. I said, man, this is ridiculous. Some other things took place. And I said, I'm tired. I said, God, I said, God, I'm wore out. I said, I don't think I'm high right now. I think that I need you like never before. I know. I talked to you before I even prayed, while I was high in society. I said, but something got to change, because this is not working for me. This is just not working. And you know what happens to you when you stand up straight? You start to hear the things that good people told you, whether it was your mom or your daddy, the pastor, a truck driver, a next door neighbor.

[Joni Lamb]

But that was your surrender moment.

[Reginald Watts]

It was.

[Joni Lamb]

I mean, God knew that you were saying, I give up.

[Reginald Watts]

Yes.

[Joni Lamb]

And you kind of made a deal with him, like, if you can do anything with this.

[Reginald Watts]

My mom died.

[Molly Sewell]

Wow.

[Joni Lamb]

While you were in prison.

[Reginald Watts]

Yes. I was in my 22nd month, and they called me the next two and a half, three days. I tried to fight. I told you guys, don't come around me, don't tell me anything. Don't talk to me. I told God to kill me. I'm too much of a coward to kill myself. I said, if you don't kill me, I'm gonna start killing guys in this dormitory that was that far gone the other way. But remember, now I'm saved. I was teaching Bible study. There was a guy came, his name is Diamond. And diamond came up to me, little distance from me. And he said, you need to live that what you teaching. I said, old man, get away from me. I said, if you don't, I'm gonna slide you under that bed. Get away from me. And he was swinging his arms with his fist ball. He said, I'm not scared of you. He's an old guy. I can't hit this dude. And I'm telling him, I said, man, go ahead now. He said, you need to live what you've been teaching, teaching Bible study, you need to. And he just kept talking. I was just getting further and further frustrated. I just wanted to sit on my bed and cry.

[Joni Lamb]

But you knew it was the truth.

[Reginald Watts]

And he walked away. I don't know if it was the next second or what it was. I just told God, I said, if you give me the strength to want to live, I'll live for you the rest of my life. Because right now I don't want to live. And I don't know if it was instantaneous. I don't know if it was 10 minutes or three hours later. I don't know. But something came over me, and I know it was the shadowing of the Holy Ghost. And it was a confirmation that God said, I heard you. I've been waiting on you.

[Joni Lamb]

So it was the enemy's last chance to try to throw you off track with your mama's dad.

[Reginald Watts]

That's right.

[Joni Lamb]

But God came.

[Reginald Watts]

Yes.

[Joni Lamb]

And the Holy Spirit rested you. And from that point on, you were pretty solid.

[Reginald Watts]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Joni Lamb]

From there on out. And you actually. We're out of time, but you actually. The prisoners voted you to be the pastor.

[Reginald Watts]

Yes. And I didn't want to be the pastor. They wanted me to be pastor. The whole camp. 11, 200 men.

[Joni Lamb]

You got to tell the one story about the paper.

[Reginald Watts]

Yes. Your rap sheet tells you. Your rap sheet is what you get from the court once you get to prison. A month or so later, your rap sheet comes. It tells you if you have parole. It tell you what your sentence is. It tells you what you did. It tells you all that you ever did wrong in your life. There's nothing right on that paper. But it's the paper that the court has on you. It's what the judge sees, what the DA sees. It's what the wardens, if they want to, they see. If you go back to court, that's what they're gonna see. First and foremost. No parole, it said, not applicable. Parole lying through it. Zero. You're a miracle. I'm a walking miracle. Yes, ma'.

[Joni Lamb]

Am. So you took that paper.

[Reginald Watts]

I took that paper. And your boxes. These. You have locker boxes, metal boxes about this high. You get two of them. One you use for paperwork and clothes I don't use for your canteen and whatever else. Well, the box they had the most. I took everything out of it. I took the. The newspaper lining out of it because you have to line it because it rusts at the bottom. And I took that rap sheet. I looked at it one more time, and I told him, adios. And I took that rap sheet. I put in the bottom of that locker. I took the newspaper and put it on top of it. I took my clothes and everything. I filled the locker up, and that was my last time looking at. Until my sentence changed. And then you said, I didn't look at it.

[Joni Lamb]

What did you say to that paper?

[Reginald Watts]

That particular paper? I started telling that paper in that box would never even look at it. I started telling that paper about my God instead of telling God about my paper. God already knew I had a life sentence, that life sentence didn't know about my God.

[Joni Lamb]

So he said, you know, people pray. Would it pray, God, I got this life sentence. You gotta go me. But he didn't say that.

[Reginald Watts]

No, I did for a while, and I stopped that because that wasn't working. God told me one day, he said, I know you got. I was at court. I was there with you. I know what you got. I knew before you got it what you were going to get. Why you keep telling me that?

[Joni Lamb]

You're being told the life sentence.

[Reginald Watts]

Yeah, I said, okay, God. I said, okay, God, I'm gonna get this in. We gonna get this in. I'm not gonna tell you no more about that life sentence. But I tell you, Mr. Life Sentence, I tell you.

[Joni Lamb]

So the short story is, again, we're out of time. We could go another whole show. But you got, you served 17 years.

[Reginald Watts]

18.

[Joni Lamb]

18. So 17 you were born again.

[Reginald Watts]

Yes, ma'.

[Chelsea Handler]

Am.

[Joni Lamb]

Pastored those men?

[Reginald Watts]

Yes, ma'.

[Molly Sewell]

Am.

[Joni Lamb]

And then you submit a possible parole.

[Reginald Watts]

They deny it, I gotta wait five years.

[Joni Lamb]

And then you gotta wait five years.

[Reginald Watts]

I put in another one. And when this one went in, you

[Joni Lamb]

still didn't give up on God though.

[Reginald Watts]

Oh, no, no. I had thoughts.

[Molly Sewell]

You did.

[Reginald Watts]

I had thoughts that God, I said, God, you lied to me. And God already told me. I did not tell you I was gonna get you out. I told you that if you serve me that I was gonna raise you up.

[Joni Lamb]

And so when the 22 year mark came, I filed.

[Reginald Watts]

I filed again that Monday, May the five year. But that Friday I needed to go out. So I went to the claps gate that sends it out and certifies it. She said, well, your date isn't up till Monday. I said, ma', am, by the time the court get it, it's going to be Tuesday. My day is going to be up. I was so tuned in on this is it until I went ahead of time and she said, you know what, you're right. And she mailed it out for me.

[Joni Lamb]

So she mailed it out, but something supernatural happened.

[Reginald Watts]

Oh, the whole process.

[Joni Lamb]

Because you know, the whole process could

[Reginald Watts]

have taken years and years and years. But what happened it take decades, every part of it from me getting a letter back saying that they accept and then getting a date to go before the five panel board and then the five panel board making the decision, putting it on the governor's desk. And then the governor signed it.

[Joni Lamb]

The governor signed it.

[Reginald Watts]

All in record time. All in record time.

[Joni Lamb]

And we just thank the Lord for that. It's amazing.

[Molly Sewell]

Wow.

[Joni Lamb]

Of course now he serves as the chaplain and program director, creating the prison the of which staff and inmates can go and begin each day. And can we just thank God for this wonderful testimony? Sorry y' all didn't get to talk. Was that so good? I know there's some of you watching that you're not like in a physical prison, but you're in a prison like you're not, you know, behind bars like Reggie was. But you are in a prison of darkness, anxiety, fear. I just want you to know that the same God that met Reginald will meet you today.

[Reginald Watts]

Amen.

[Joni Lamb]

We are out of time. But I want you to remember, no mistake, no prison, no storm in your life is too big for God to work in. Even in the very darkest moment, God can turn it all around. If you're going through a hard place right now, don't walk through it alone. Reach out and trust that God can be. You're right. You are. You know, I always talk about my grandfather. I said, tell the story so often because his decision changed the trajectory of our family. When at 19, he called out to the Lord there at a tool and die mill in Greenville, South Carolina on a Monday morning, he didn't know anything about God, church, anything. And he just said, God, if you're there, I need you. That's kind of what Reginald did.

[Reginald Watts]

That's the best place to be.

[Joni Lamb]

And so if you don't know the Lord, all you have to do is just say, jesus, forgive me. Come into my heart right now and be lord of my life. I need you. And he'll meet you right where you are. And of course, we have prayer partners that are standing by, always ready to pray with you. Call that number on the screen. I'd love to send you the Gospel of John. It's a free gift. Just want to bless you with it. It's a great place to start in the word of God, but I want to thank Reginald for joining us. You can get a copy of his book From Crack to the Cross. Really, really good. As always, make sure to follow us on all social media. Subscribe to our YouTube channel for full episodes. Exclusive content. Let us know how Table Talk is touching your life. We love hearing from you. And of course, you can also listen to the Joni Table Talk podcast, available now on all the major platforms. I want to thank you so much for watching those of you that prayed that prayer. It's a new day. For those of you that are searching for something, you don't know what it is. There's a hole in your heart that only God can feel. And he wants to do that for you today. So just ask him. He'll meet you right where you are. We'll see you next time. Bye bye for today. I think when you're diagnosed with cancer, you crave a semblance of normalcy and control. And so work allowed me to be me. So I think it's really important that companies stay flexible. Cancer in a diagnosis can be all consuming, but it doesn't have to be.

[Reginald Watts]

Research shows there is a significant connection between the ability to continue to work and cancer recovery. We can make work a better place

[Joni Lamb]

for healing, learn more and sign the

[Chelsea Handler]

[e-mail] this season on Dear Chelsea with me, Chelsea Handler. We've got some incredible guests like Kumail Nanjiani. Let's start with your cat. How is she?

[Joni Lamb]

She is not with us anymore.

[Chelsea Handler]

Okay, great, great, great. Way to start. Maybe you will cry. Ross Matthews, you know what kids always say to me? Are you a boy or a girl?

[Joni Lamb]

Oh, my God.

[Chelsea Handler]

All the time. So funny.

[Joni Lamb]

I know.

[Chelsea Handler]

So I try to butch it up for kids. Kids so they're not confused. Yeah, but you're butching it up. It's basically like an angry woman.

[Joni Lamb]

Doris Day, right?

[Chelsea Handler]

No, I turn into Bea Arthur. Listen to these episodes of Dear Chelsea on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Molly Sewell]

This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.