Happy Addison: From Slamming dope to Preaching Christ on The Dead Men Walking Podcast

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Exploring Theology, Doctrine, and all of the Fascinating Subjects in Between, Broadcasting from an

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Undisclosed Location, Dead Men Walking starts now! Well hello everyone, welcome back to another episode of Dead Men Walking Podcast.

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Thanks for listening, thanks for sharing with a friend, thanks for posting on social media. Couldn't do it without you all, glory to God, and everything that we do.

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Wow, it's been a great couple of months, been very busy. We've had a lot of good guests on here.

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You guys have been listening to some people that I met down in Tullahoma, Tennessee, and we got another one of those today.

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Usually I say a few words and get right into it, but we are going to get right into it today.

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On the other line, I have Pastor Haps Addison. Happy, how are you, sir? I'm pretty good.

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How you doing, bro? Doing good, man. It's good to talk to you again. I know.

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We kind of had a friendship, kind of started our friendship down in Tullahoma at the

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Shadows to Substance Conference. Got to hang out for a few days. I know you were on for a little 10 -minute segment about a month ago now on the podcast, but why don't

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I have you on for a little bit longer format. I just really enjoyed your fellowship, your testimony, and everything that you're doing for the kingdom of God.

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So before we get into it, just give us a little bio, give us a little background on who you are, buddy. Well, my real name is actually

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Todd Addison, but I go by Happy. It's a nickname I acquired a long time ago.

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It's like calling a fat man tiny, you know, but yeah. Are you saying you're not happy?

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Yeah, I'm not happy. No, I am now. Now I can literally live up to the name, you know, but yeah,

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I was dead in my sins and trespasses.

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I was a hardcore heroin and speed addict for 34 years and got involved in the skinhead movement here in Southern California.

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I was a separatist. You know, it's a lot different than a racist. Same thing, same banner, you know, but yeah, yeah, you know, and here, you know,

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I was at the end of my ropes and I ended up going back to my hometown, which like every drug addict does, you know, yeah, we always, right, right at the end of our ropes, we always go back home, you know, and here, you know, the girl

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I chased for 18 years, the one that kept saying no, no, no. Every time I got out of incarceration, somehow

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I convinced her to marry me and it was all bad after that.

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You know, I started cheating on her, abusing her mentally, physically, emotionally, spiritually, all that, and she would just pray.

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She would just pray. My wife's a hardcore believer in Christ, was a missionary to China and Korea and here, you know,

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I was just this lying piece of crap. I was just, I was just vile, a vile person, you know, and I didn't love her or anything, but make a long story short, you know, here, you know,

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I throw Bibles at her and say, where's your God now? And say some bad word and, and she would just sit there and pray.

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And I was just, there was something so attractive about that. And I don't mean in a, yeah, you know, a sexual, like a physical way.

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Yeah. Yeah. It was just, it was just like, I've never seen this before, you know, and, and here

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I end up doing too much. I was doing what's called goofballs. So you got speed balls, which is cocaine and methamphetamine, and then you got goofballs, which is heroin and speed.

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And I used to slam an intravenously and here I did too much.

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Now, let me back up a second. I did way too much. All right. And I ended up, ended up stroking out.

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I had a full blown stroke. It was paralyzed on the whole left side of my body. And I had to go to the,

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I couldn't speak. You know, I, I couldn't talk and I was, I was terrified. I was just trapped up here and I was just so mad.

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You know, I, I've just lived this life of just hate in. I hated every race and including my own,

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I hated myself. And if there was a God, I hate him too. But here I had,

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I had a stroke. And, um, uh, after I got out of the rehabilitation, uh, they had to put a bed down in front of my, in the living room, uh, in front of our, our television.

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And so my wife, uh, hooked up the laptop to our television and she went to YouTube and put it on repeat and typed in reform pastors.

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And you couldn't do anything. You were incapacitated. There's nothing I could do. I was so upset, dude.

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I was like, no, I'm not listening to this. No. And, um, a guy named Jeff Durbin from Apologia, uh, popped up and I, I heard the gospel, the gospel of Jesus Christ.

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And it, it was like, you know, so when it comes to, let me tell you something, when it comes to the doctrines of grace,

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I really experienced that. I mean, I, it was like, all of a sudden

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I came alive and I'm like, what's going on?

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And all of a sudden I'm given this faith and, uh, repentance. And it was, it was like that.

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Uh, it wasn't about, well, it was about like a year later. I started walking again. I could walk with a cane and, um, and so, yeah, that, that's how

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I came to, uh, to know the Lord and, uh, never looked back. I never looked back.

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You know, I don't, there's nothing else I want to do besides serve Christ. Nothing. So, so that Psalm where it says he pulled me out of the muck and miry clay and put my feet on solid ground.

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You lived that. Oh yeah. Yeah. Like, because I was not a believer. I was not a believer.

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And, uh, and I grew up, my, my parents were part of the Calvary chapel movement. And so, uh, my dad was, uh, um, he was, uh, what's his name?

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Chuck Smith's, um, what's it called? A real estate agent. And, um, that's how my dad came to know the

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Lord and everything. But I was a runaway since I was like 12, 13, you know, something like that.

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So yeah. Rough life. You know, when you, when you're telling that testimony to, uh, praise

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God for a faithful and godly wife. Um, you know, so often now, and I've talked about this and I've been talking about it the last few weeks about how often we go in the modern evangelical church, how we want to go right to divorce.

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If, uh, two people aren't getting along or even if there's abuse, uh, that's usually the first answer.

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Now this is a tough subject and you've lived through it, but it sounds like you were a pretty, uh, wretched depraved guy.

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Like we all are. Uh, and she was a faithful, uh, and godly and prayerful wife who's stuck with you.

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And I love that she put on reform preachers on YouTube and you couldn't do anything about it.

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She forced you to watch it, boy. Oh yeah. Yeah. She was, uh, she taught me all about Jesus.

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She taught me about forgiveness. She, she taught, she actually taught me how to pray, you know,

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I didn't, I kept hearing she tried to take me to these churches and I'd hear, and they were like, you know, out here in Southern California, it's mainly charismatic or Methodists or, or whatever.

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Um, but, um, I keep hearing these people with these really fancy prayers and I was like, I don't,

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I don't even know how to pray. You know, she taught me about the

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Bible and, and, um, and, and that was the start, you know? But yeah, it was through, uh, her, her faithfulness.

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I mean, she would, I mean, you want to hear something funny. I'm dead serious.

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All right. So my house, I turned it into a drug house back in the day. So I always had the,

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I was selling dope and everything. And, um, uh, I had a roommate, we had a roommate here and everything.

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And, and, um, and when I, I, I used to have this lower Jaguar, you know,

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I was like, you know, thinking I was cool or something. I don't know. And here I'd be going down the street and I'd be heading home and I'd call, call my boys on the phone and I go,

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Hey, where's Irene? That's my wife's name. Where's Irene? And, um, they go, oh dude, uh, she's on the roof.

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And so we have a flat roof and whenever she would cry out to the

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Lord, she'd go on top of her roof with a blanket and just sit up there and pray. And I was like, uh,

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I don't want to go to jail. I'm dead serious. I don't want to go to jail.

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Yeah. So I know we're going to talk about something else in this episode. Uh, but I, I, I love testimonies and I just have to ask him for the sake of the listeners too.

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So you're radically saved. Christ comes into your life. Regenerate your heart.

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What was that first year or two years after that? I mean, you said you were, you were, you know, a drug user for decades.

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Was there relapse? Was there an instant change? Did you have to cut out everyone in your life? Did you go into a period of the wilderness, so to speak?

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Or how did you work through that? If you don't mind me asking. Well, it was, um, it was, it was,

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I mean, I was, I, okay. So it was crazy.

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So what happened, um, with me was, um, uh, I, I dove into the scriptures, you know?

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I mean, I just dove into them and it was just like, uh, coming off the paper to me.

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Like I couldn't get enough. And, um, I, I ended up, um, uh, the, the cops out here and everything, they had been building a case on me and, um,

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I, I didn't know it. And all of a sudden they raided our house and I ended up going to jail and I was looking at, um, 25 years to life.

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They came at me over, over, uh, eight, 800 or 900 felonies.

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Felonies. I mean, yeah. And this is all documented, you know, this is all, this is all documented, you know?

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And, um, here, uh, my wife was falling out. Nobody can be there for me in court because my grandma had just died.

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And, uh, I, I go to court and my lawyer, uh, it's, it's a long story, but I'll just really just make it a lot simple.

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I saw my lawyer who, um, was a court appointed, uh, um, attorney.

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Sure. He, he came over to me and he goes, you need to sign an initial this, this form.

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And I was like, well, I'm going upstate for 25 anyways, you know? So, uh, well then, uh, but, uh, but I had peace that I wasn't,

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I wasn't asking the Lord to get me out because I knew I was guilty of all of it, you know, all of it.

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And, and here my lawyer goes over and puts his hand on the district attorney's, uh, shoulder.

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And this guy starts to pray in my heart is beating out of my neck. I'm like, what's going on?

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Wait, your lawyer starts to pray or the district attorney starts to pray? No, my lawyer.

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Yeah. And I don't even know this guy and, and I'm tripping out dude.

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And all of a sudden these, uh, the, this, uh, these cops come in and they sit down and they're all making fun of me and laughing.

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I'm like, really God, I'm going to go out like this. And anyways, uh, the papers, uh, the, the, it comes, the form comes like in three sheets.

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Sure. Yep. Yep. Broke one off and gave it to my lawyer. And then went over there and started talking to the other, uh, the district attorney started talking to the cops and these cops were very upset and left.

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And my lawyer came up to me and he goes, I got three and a half years. And I go, that's impossible.

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That's, that's completely impossible, dude. And he goes, I got you three and a half years. You're still going to go upstate.

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And I was like, okay, that's better than 25 years. You know? And I was like, you're a good lawyer.

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You should go into private practice, man. And he goes, I was like, I was like,

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God bless you, man. And he put his hand on my shoulder and he goes, no, God bless you. And I go, Hey, what's your name?

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And he said, my name's Mr. Cross CRO. Wow. Like I said, document.

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And I was, my floor hit the ground, dude. Five days later, five days later, they let me out of jail.

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And what, how did it like just time served? No, they have down here in California, they have something called a federal kick.

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That means when there's too many people incarcerated, they, they let you out. Yep. They let you out then just on probation, essentially.

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Yeah. And so I came out. Yeah, I came out and man, it was like, there was a fire under my butt and I started evangelizing, you know?

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Yeah. Yeah. How, how do you not wake up every morning? Just, uh, so grateful to the

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Lord for how good he treated you, huh? Yeah. Yeah. His grace upon grace.

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Yeah. And it's, uh, and I've seen it in my life too. There's, I've talked about it many times on this podcast, so I won't get into it, but, uh, you know, uh, basically putting it, putting anything in my mouth.

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I could pills and drugs, and I didn't care if I lived or died and running from the Lord, grew up in church and the

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Lord got ahold of me at 24 years old, man, and just, uh, floored me, you know, and somehow worked everything out to where I should,

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I should to either be in prison or dead. Uh, but by the grace of God, his mercies are new every morning.

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It's undeserved. And, uh, that's when my feet hit the floor in the morning. Uh, you look up and you say, thank you,

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Lord. And it's, it's with that gratefulness that we then go out and evangelize, you know?

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Yeah. Um, cause I have a real big thing with people who, when they start picking on my theology and they say, well, you reform folk, we're all robots anyway.

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Why even evangelize if there's predestination? And I say, it is the gratefulness that, that compels us to tell others of God's love.

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Uh, you've, you've, you clearly don't know how wretched you are and how great and, and, and, uh, righteous he is.

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Um, if you don't understand why we tell other people about the good news and the gospel, but, uh, man, what a,

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I, oh, go ahead. No, no, go ahead. I was going to say, we can sit here and talk an hour for you about your, uh, testimony because I love hearing testimonies.

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Um, you know, a year and a half ago or so we were tossing around an idea, Jason, who's sometimes on the podcast, uh, talking about, uh, testimony

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Tuesdays, just have someone on every Tuesday so we can just hear the goodness of God.

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But, um, yeah, so, so you're pastoring now out in California, correct? Yes. Yeah.

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And you're, and you're with Irene, your wife. That's who I met down in Tullahoma was Irene. Yeah. My little redhead.

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Yep. Your little redhead. And, uh, that's crazy. You guys made the trek for, uh, what was it? Took you four or five days to, from California to Tennessee.

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Yeah. My butt still hurts really, really still hurt all the way there.

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And I tell you, we, we got, I, man, let me tell you, dude, that was, I, I've only been to one conference and that was reform con.

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And I, and I went there and I saw all my homies, all my friends, you know, because over the years

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I became friends with all the guys of apology and, and, um, uh, and the cultist show and provoked and, and all of them still, man, we went down there and it was an absolute blast.

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But when, when, when we got to Tullahoma, it was, it was way different, man.

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It was different. I got friends for life there. I got, you know, I mean, it was, it was incredible, you know, just the love and people out doing one another and honor and the way his church, the covenant reform

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Baptist church, the way they served on everybody. Yeah. It's just tripped me out.

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But, um, so I, I said this to a couple of people and I said it on a podcast I was on a few weeks ago. Um, there was just such a softness and spirit of unity there and a brotherly love for all three of those days.

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And it was something that, you know, it's those glimpses you get of, of, of heaven or of a new heaven and new earth.

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When we're ruling and reigning with Christ, it's like, wow, this is, this is what that means when you say brothers and sisters in the

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Lord. And this will be a good segue into what we want to talk about here. But unity among, among brothers and sisters, there's a lot of division, uh, in, in churches right now, uh, among churches.

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But I would say, and I want to preference this as well, because we call out, we call out wolves here. We call out false doctrine.

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We don't want anyone preaching a false Christ. We don't go along to get along. Right. Just because we say, oh, well, we're supposed to love each other.

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So we're going to put up with a false Christ, a false gospel or heuristic. We absolutely don't do that.

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And I know we're a little heavy on that. Sometimes in reform circles, we, we get that kind of image of, of being those guys that are out there pointing the finger and calling it out.

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But one, I think most people do it because, uh, they love the body of Christ. Uh, they love

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Christ himself and they don't want him to be misrepresented and they don't want his, his name blasphemed. Uh, so it is from a motivation of truth and love.

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But at the same time, I also see a lot of division within, uh, within the church.

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Now, you know, with me, there's going to be things prime. You always have to align on primary issues.

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I would say we probably need to kind of establish that first. We're talking about those who, who hold to the confessions and creeds and orthodox

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Christianity. Those, I think you would agree. Those are the ones we're calling brothers and sisters in the

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Lord. We're, we're, we're probably, uh, you know, if, if you're talking about a oneness

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Pentecostal that doesn't believe in the Trinity, that's outside of orthodoxy. If you're talking about Jehovah witness or Mormon or some of those, those are outside of orthodoxy.

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We are, uh, we are told commanded to call those to them, to repentance.

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Uh, but within that orthodoxy, um, you know, we, we saw a lot of division through the

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COVID stuff and how churches handled that. We're now three, you know, three years removed from the beginning of that.

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Um, how important is unity? Uh, and, and what, and what can we do? Like, where's the line,

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I guess, to like, how important is it? I would say it's important, but where's that line of where we don't unify with another, uh, another believer or, or is there a line at all?

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What do you think? Oh, there's, there's a definite line, you know, uh, but just giving you, uh, an example of what a healthy, uh, what healthy, um, orthodox, uh, um, uh, just, uh, uh, unity really looks like is

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I remember when we were all at the cigar shop and we were going around talking about eschatologies and you said the funniest thing that I, I, I, I've told so many people this man, but we were all going around and here, we all have these different eschatologies.

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All right. Some are Presbyterian, some are reformed Baptist, some are Calvinistic Baptist and everything like that.

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And all of a sudden when it, when it got to you, you were like, wait a second, you guys have been picking on me this whole time because I'm a

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Presbyterian and we got a dis be right there. Let's get them. And everybody was cracking up, you know, and we were just, it was just so beautiful, you know?

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And, um, yeah, that was Andrew Rappaport. Good brother in the Lord too. Yeah. Yeah. Rapture port.

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That's what we call them. Old rapture port. I would say too, it, you know, and just for the listeners too,

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I think we have to, once again, make a distinction between primary doctor doctrinal issues and then secondary issues.

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Right. Um, I can sit, I can sit in a room with my reformed

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Baptist brethren and I would, I would identified as a reformed Baptist probably up until about two years ago.

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So I'm, I'm freshly minted as a reformed Presbyterian. I made that cross over into the baptism covenant, but, uh, and we, we, we, and we've had some conversations on that on the podcast, but there's a difference between primary and secondary issues.

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Um, if it is, if it's a baptism issue about age credo versus pedo, well, that's a secondary issue in absolutely you're 1689, uh, um,

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Westminster, guess what? We both believe, uh, the, the Orthodox of Christianity.

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Um, when we, when we're getting into, um, uh, primary issues is where I would say that unity starts to split.

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Like I just said before, but secondary issues is where I see a lot of people splitting on.

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Now, I even have some personal feelings on this because for a long time I, uh, attended, uh, assemblies of God church, and they have a doctrine on the baptism of the

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Holy spirit, a second baptism saying you're baptized in water, but you also have a spiritual baptism of, uh, of, of the

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Holy spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues and in some ag churches and within their denomination have made that a primary doctrine, which

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I have to disagree with them on. So I even have some personal issues on that to where like, where are even within the secondary issues, um, you know,

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I can stand side by side with those, with my ag brothers on social issues like abortion and trans rights and, you know, uh, homosexuality and, and all these things.

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But even that is a pretty major secondary issue to me because they're, you know, the denomination essentially takes one verse, uh, and they wrap a whole doctrine around the second baptism and the, and everyone should speak in tongues.

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And some of them even go to far as to say, and this is where I think we would disagree on that, that now it's a primary issue that tongues is an evidence of salvation, which you and I both don't agree to that.

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And we would say that's a, that's a primary form of heresy. So it's like sometimes, you know, interdenominational, uh, even different theologies.

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I'm always curious, like, where is that? Where is, where does the unity stop?

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And I don't know what, what do you think that that's kind of what I've been wrestling with, you know, my question, but no, no, no, no.

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I, I totally hear what you're saying. You know, I'm a teacher now. So I go to different churches and I teach on cults, apologetics and, um, rolled religions.

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And, um, what I've noticed from the home that the Lord, this, this ministry that the

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Lord has blessed me with all the branch ministries. Um, I've had over a thousand people come here and they always come, they always come out of, you know, like Jehovah's witnesses,

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Mormon seven day Adventists, um, or the charismatic movement. And what it comes down to is, do you believe, uh,

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I mean, uh, that, that Jesus Christ is God. Do you believe, uh, in the, the

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Jesus Christ of this Bible right here? You know, the one that that's preached faithfully every

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Lord's day from this right here. Do you believe in the triune God, the father, son, and the

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Holy spirit? Do you believe, um, in, uh, have you, have you heard the gospel of Jesus Christ?

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Cause nine times out of 10 and I've been doing this for years now, nine times out of 10, they've, they've heard a different gospel, have a different Jesus and received a different spirit every single time.

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And, um, and, and so we, I've noticed that if they don't hold to the gospel of Jesus Christ, that is the power of God into salvation.

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And they don't know that, that, uh, unless you believe ego army, he, you too will die in your sins.

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And if you don't, you don't understand the core at the core of the doctrine, the, um, the, um, of the scriptures, excuse me, if you don't understand the basics and stuff like that, um, you're, you're either off into heresy or you're a full blown cult.

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And I, I honestly believe that, um, you know, like, I mean, I know I've got Baptist friends, you know, like independent fundamental

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Baptist friends down the street, you know, I don't agree with, you know, but they're still my brothers, you know? Right.

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I mean, we just, we just call them crazy cousins, you know, it's just, you know, that's kind of like my

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King James only church around the corner from me. Oh yeah. I know a few of them and they're, they're, they're a little, they're a little crazy with that, uh, preservation theology, kind of like what, uh, that, uh,

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Dr. James White was arguing down in, uh, Tullahoma, but yeah, still my brothers, but I think just a little confused, you know,

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I got the, I got so much, uh, I wouldn't say hate, but people were kind of mad at me because last year

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I had a gentleman on who's on, on, uh, Instagram and we kind of been conversing back and forth and he was a straight up Lutheran.

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He was reformed in his theology, but guess the two big things, Christ is physically present in the

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Eucharist and baptism is salvific at birth, you know, infant infant baptism.

26:48

Don't they believe he's like around, uh, you know, crisis somewhere around the, the bread and wine.

26:56

Well, so there's, so there's different shades of Lutheranism too. It's like the spirit is there or well, it's physically that, you know, physically in the, in the, uh, in the, uh, wine and the bread, uh, the spirit is there.

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And then just kind of a memorial, like we do it in remembrance. Right. Um, so even within Lutheranism, there are different shades of that, but I just wanted to have a conversation about his theology.

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And I got so many people we don't really like that. You had a Lutheran on there and I went, man, I must not be doing my job.

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If I'm talking about the same things, uh, I started this podcast so I can bring other people on and kind of talk about those things in no way was

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I promoting him or, um, you know, agreeing with him. And we disagreed on those and we talked about it, but at the same time,

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I'm kind of on the fence there. I look at those things as, is he a brother in Christ? He's got an idea about the

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Eucharist and he's got an idea about baptism. And I went, I think I still call him brother in the

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Lord and he's out there, you know, he's in. So there was something where I went probably in my cage stage, you know, 15 years ago,

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I would have been like you heretic repent, look what the Bible says about baptism.

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What look what the Bible says about the Eucharist, you know? Uh, but at the same time I go, okay,

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I think both of those are secondary issues. I don't know the infant baptism that's so vific that could be teetering on, uh, maybe not secondary that could get into primary.

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But, uh, at the same time I look at that and I say there has to be some unity. I would much, I would much rather have unity with someone like that than probably, you know, someone who attends

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Bethel. Uh, I can probably get through to the Lutheran better than I can get to the, uh, word of faith, barking like a dog, a gold dust coming from the heavens, feathers growing on my arm.

28:46

Uh, pull your leg out and lengthen it, uh, healing, uh, ministry. You know what I mean? Jesus is my boyfriend.

28:53

Worship shamalama ding dong came in a Honda left in a Mazda, you know, uh, speaking in tongues, you know, all that stuff.

29:00

So it's like, and I'm making kind of light of that, but we've talked about Bethel quite a lot on this podcast.

29:07

Everyone knows where I stand on that. To be honest, I, I, and I, you know,

29:12

I'm, I'm, I just got to be honest with it. Uh, I, I really don't, I, I think the, the whole

29:19

Bethel and this whole charismatic movement, um, are, are cults. They're outside of Orthodox Christianity.

29:25

I mean, just, just straight up, you know, I mean, it's, it's disgusting what they do.

29:30

And, but I think that Lutherans are the closest we have to brothers within the Christian realm.

29:37

So, you know, we got the, you know, a Presbyter, you know, we've got the Presbyterians, uh, Dutch reform,

29:43

Lutheran, you know, uh, Calvinistic Baptist reform, Baptist and everything. And, and, um, and, and I think we're, we're more like this cause we're, we're actually holding to, um, confessions.

29:56

Now I don't agree with a lot of stuff that the Lutherans, you know, talk about and stuff, but when it comes to, to unity, it's these core things, the, the core, not a, not a twisting of the scriptures.

30:09

Like, like it says in, was it second Peter, you know, where some come in and they, they, they, they take what

30:16

Paul says and they twist it to their own destruction. You know, people that are ignorant and, but yeah.

30:24

So it's, it's good to note too. And I've said it on the podcast before, you know, uh, you and I, a reformed

30:31

Presbyterian and a reformed Baptist 200 years ago, we were the majority in the United States, uh, 80%.

30:38

Um, it's only in the last 120 years that charismatic and Pentecostalism has even been a thing.

30:45

If you would've took the, uh, the doctrines of an average charismatic or Pentecostal church, and you take that back just 250 years ago, they would have laughed you out of the sanctuary.

30:57

They would've said, what are you talking about? Second baptism? What are you talking about? Uh, tongues can be practiced. Uh, if you repeat a saying over and over, what, what are you talking about?

31:06

God has to heal every single person. Like that wasn't the norm because it wasn't the

31:12

Bible. Uh, so I think it's good to know too, that sometimes you and I feel like we're in the minority.

31:19

Uh, when you look at Western Christian church and you see the majority of non -denominational churches are essentially charismatic.

31:27

Uh, we were the majority in history and we are the majority throughout church history, uh, which kind of puts it into perspective a little bit.

31:36

We're kind of going through this little wave. And like I said, especially in what in the Western world of this crazy charismatic boom, uh, which, which you have to kind of explain to people because they think that's all there is.

31:50

Um, like you said, when, when the Lord saved me at 24, I said the sinner's prayer at seven got saved at 24.

31:57

Um, it was like, I just had to keep eating, man. Like reading that Bible. It was like, what? This is in the

32:02

Bible. My eyes were open. Um, my heart of stone was removed. It was a heart of flesh. Now it was this revelation upon revelation of the doctrines of grace.

32:10

And then of course, you know, as we all joke, we go into a cage stage and you just want everyone to know about it because you're just so excited.

32:19

You know, no, I have, um,

32:25

I'm sorry. Go ahead. No, I, I have, we have a t -shirts on our website that says, uh, wine,

32:31

I'm dying. I'm Romans nine. Um, so there's a little bit of my, there's a little bit of my cage stage still left.

32:36

If you want to, you know, for anyone out there, you can buy the t -shirt. It's a good conversation starter, but shameless self -promotion.

32:42

But, uh, what were you going to say there? That, well, you know, what amazes me is that when you look through church history, when

32:49

I first started studying church history, I was shocked. I was absolutely shocked, you know, because, uh, you know, non -denominational churches, which is like the majority of big

33:00

Eva now, you know, it's non -denominational. We don't hold your confessions. We all have the same statement of faith that we just copy and paste on each other's webpages.

33:10

And, and, but when you start to go back and look at where these, these, uh, um, certain denominations started and everything, and you start to find out like in the 1800s, you know, prior to the civil war,

33:24

I mean, you, you had, you had, uh, Mormonism start

33:30

Jehovah's witnesses start, Hey, we got to get away from the creeds and confessions, man. And we, we got to reinterpret the scriptures and Christian science.

33:41

Uh, you know, it also got started at the exact same time was, uh, dispensationalism at the exact same time.

33:48

Yeah. It was around that time. Yeah. Seven day Adventist. And, and so,

33:54

I mean, you had like the, another one, like the, the second great awakening, you know, yeah. Charles Finney denying original sin.

34:02

And it had, it's just all this orchestrated stuff. But when we go back and we like, look at real revivals and stuff that happened in history, like Jonathan Edwards, Oh, to be a sinner in the hands of an angry

34:14

God, the preaching of God's word, wreck people. Now it's all about experience and reason and, and all this.

34:21

And we, and it's, it's made the, um, it makes, um,

34:26

I think it's, uh, first off it's, uh, uh, emasculated the men in the church. Uh, that's what

34:33

I believe. And I believe it's, uh, made, uh, people, um, uh, spiritually impotent, you know?

34:41

I mean, just, I'm being real, you know? Uh, yeah. Ineffective. Absolutely. Yeah. And, and so when

34:47

I, I, I have heard from several people that, uh, they kept telling me like, Oh yeah, reform people aren't known to evangelize.

34:55

I'm like, uh, that's all I know is, is evangelists that I, I don't, that, that, you're literally, you're literally part of open air theology where you guys do open air preaching like every week.

35:08

Oh yeah. You couldn't be more evangelistic. Oh yeah. You know, this is just, I mean, you know,

35:14

Christ commanded us to do it. So we do it, you know? Yeah. And, um, you know, that's just what it is.

35:20

You, you bring up a really good point about creeds and confessions too. And I was talking to some of the guys down in Tullahoma about this.

35:27

You know, if, if you're on a, you're on a country road and let's say it's freshly paved, you know, you got that fresh pavement, you're on a country road, uh, and it's just flat.

35:39

You're going to go, man, you're going, you're going to open up that throttle a little bit. You catch yourself going, heck, 60, 70, 80 miles an hour on a back road, maybe on your bike, maybe on your, in your car or truck.

35:50

Uh, and you can get reckless a little bit, you know, curve comes up, guess what? You're going off the road. You didn't realize it.

35:56

Now imagine that same country road. It's, it's freshly paved. It's very smooth, but you got 12 foot ditches on either side.

36:04

Are you being a little more cautious? Are you not maybe stepping on that gas? Are you looking out for curves? That's our creeds and confessions.

36:10

The Bible is that freshly paved road. Uh, the creeds and confessions are those 12 foot ditches on either side.

36:17

Hey, take it easy, slow down, pay attention to what theology and doctrine you're teaching, preaching, or believing.

36:24

So although not inspired like the word of God, those creeds and confessions are very important. And like you just said, how funny that when we decided to abandon those creeds and confessions,

36:34

Oh, 200 years ago, we had all these things spring up out of it. Mormonism, seventh day advent, dispensationalism, you know, now look at I'm to my dipsy friends.

36:44

I'm not, uh, putting Mormonism on the same level as, uh, as Mormonism.

36:52

But find it odd, but there's some serious errors. I think with dispensationalism, I don't think

36:57

I would ever look at a dispensationalist and say, uh, you know, classic dispensationalists and say,

37:03

Oh, you're not a believer one. That's not my place to write. It's not that serious, but there there's a lesser error there.

37:12

I think that can spring up out of, you know, not looking to those creeds and confessions to guide us.

37:18

And I think you bring up a really good point there, but, um, getting back to unity to like, what can we do?

37:25

Do you think as smaller churches, medium -sized churches, um, cause you're all about unity.

37:30

I mean, heck you traveled five days to come to a conference. I, you know, I was a little, I was only eight hours away, so it wasn't too bad for me.

37:37

Um, you're a guy who obviously unity is important to you, especially with your, with your, um, background as well, too.

37:44

I'm sure the Lord dropped that in you. Uh, like, Hey, we, we need to be unified in Christ. What are some things we can do to encourage unity between the brothers and sisters in the

37:53

Lord? Oh, humility, humility. That's a good answer.

37:59

Just right there. You know, I mean, uh, you know, putting on the mind of Christ, counting others more significant than ourselves outdoing one another in honor, loving our brothers, loving our neighbors as ourselves, loving

38:14

God, you know, um, these, these are natural attributes that come out of a believer in Christ.

38:21

You know, I told people that when I, I, I went to the conference, all right. And I was so taken back.

38:28

All right. And I'm dead serious. When I say this, I was so taken back. I said, being at a family reunion.

38:37

And, uh, since we've all been adopted into the, the, uh, into the body of Christ, we've all been adopted.

38:43

Now we're getting to know our siblings, you know, and that's how it felt for me.

38:49

You know, that's, that's what it means to me that when, uh, when brothers unite for the advance, the kingdom of God to glorify

38:56

God, you know, when I, I hear throughout like church history and stuff, when the reformers, when, um, they would, they would sing the war

39:06

Psalms. All right. And they would grab each other and put their arms and lock each other and hold up their beers or whatnot.

39:14

And, and, and just glorify God, they've loved each other. And I think that, uh, nowadays people are just trying to build their own kingdoms and that pride and arrogance and ego can get in the way.

39:29

And then it's like, man, that's, I don't know about you, but that's, that's, I don't want to ever go back to that.

39:36

Yeah. We go from selfishness to selflessness. So when we go about this with all humility and you, you see a true, true unity in the body of Christ, and it's really easy to distinguish who's of us and who is not in who we need to evangelize to, you know?

39:57

Yeah. I'll tell you what, man, your wisdom is preaching to me right now. Uh, well, God's wisdom through you, because I've struggled with that for, for years, for my entire life, wanting to win an argument instead of just loving and being, being humble and full of humility.

40:12

And it's been a really real struggle in my life. I love to debate. I love to discuss.

40:18

And, you know, I'm one of those people that where if I get you in a heated argument, uh, at the end of it,

40:23

I'll shake your hand and give you a hug, walk away, go, wow, that was great. And the other person's still upset. And I go, Hey, nothing personal.

40:28

I just really like, I love arguing, you know? Uh, and I think that's a particular type of person, but at the same time, that's not great for unity.

40:37

That's definitely not great for evangelism. We're not out there to win an argument with maybe a brother and sister in the

40:43

Lord that might have a slightly different doctrine, secondary issue. Um, if we approach them in humility, like you said, and can

40:51

I just say for everyone listening, um, you, and I'm not saying this to puff you up or give you any type of pride, but, uh, you walk in that humility.

40:59

When I met you, um, I go, man, I'm attracted to this guy as a, as a person because he has something that I don't to where you just so humble and people want to be around you because there's humility there.

41:11

And it's, it's, it's biblical. It's a biblical principle. You read through Proverbs and it talks about how a humble man is straight in all his ways, how the

41:19

Lord takes care of him, how, uh, how essentially he builds wealth through humility. Sure.

41:25

Wicked people build wealth and they're prideful and selfish. And we've seen that, but Ecclesiastes tells us, you know, that doesn't last either.

41:32

Uh, so I would just say to you, I saw that firsthand how, and I love that. That was your, that was your answer because I suspected it was going to be a walking in humility.

41:41

And I think that's the big takeaway here. And probably not what a lot of reformed folk want to hear because we hang around with our reform folk.

41:49

We like debates, right? We like arguing theology. We like pointing out differences, you know, but at the same time, it has to all be done in humility.

41:58

That's, that's, that's so good, man. You know, I have a down here. Um, so, uh, you know, down here

42:05

I got, um, I know this church. I don't, I don't get to spend enough time with them.

42:11

They're over in LA. They're called the reformed church of Los Angeles. Pastor Rudy Rubio and Chris, uh,

42:16

Chris Marquis are the pastors there and they're Dutch reformed. Hmm. And I, I saw what they were doing in the community and it was just so much out of love.

42:28

And you, I'd go to their Bible studies and they'd have this kid from Compton, this kid from South Central, this kid from all the worst spots.

42:36

And they're coming to glorify God and they're out there in their communities, uh, and their communities are rejecting them, but they're still going out and giving the gospel of Jesus Christ.

42:45

I'm doing hardcore evangelism and they're growing. Yeah. You know, and, and, uh,

42:51

I, I, I, I mean, those people like really encouraged me and you know, it's,

42:57

I, I think that, that we all sharpen each other. We're all going to have differences. There's a, there's always differences in a family, you know, there's always differences in a family, you know?

43:08

And, um, I think that, that we need to learn how to, how to, um, you know, just submit to God's word and know that, uh, his, his scriptures, we have a lot of prescriptive texts in here, you know, uh, on how we ought to be, uh, especially towards one another.

43:29

So, uh, let everyone know too, cause I can't remember, what's the name of your church out there in California? Oh, I'm, uh, it's all a branch ministries.

43:38

Okay. And I don't, I don't have a, uh, a webpage or I just have Facebook, you know,

43:44

I don't have business cards or nothing like that. No, you want to, it's come full circle because you, you basically waited it out because now

43:52

I feel like no one really uses business cards anymore. Just like, Hey man, let me text you. Let me hit you up on social media.

43:59

People that the only people that show me business cards or if they're like a prophet or an apostle, they always write that on their card and they hand it to me on the apostle.

44:09

So -and -so and I tell them, no, no, you, you, you spilt it wrong. And they go, what do you mean?

44:16

I go, it's apostate apostate. You, uh, you, you put a capital on there.

44:22

It should be a small a for a possible, but yeah. Uh, it's funny because I'm a real estate broker and you would think

44:29

I would, should carry around cards with me. And I, and I don't, and most people don't even want a card. They just go,

44:34

Oh, just give me your cell phone or I'll get you on Instagram or Facebook or something like that. We're living in a different world where, yeah, who cares if you don't have a business card?

44:41

Right. But, um, so olive branch ministries, where can people get ahold of you at, uh, on Facebook?

44:48

What is just under happy Addison or haps Addison or haps Addison. Now there's a fake account out there that's named haps

44:55

Addison. I don't know how to get rid of it, but it's not mine. And if it doesn't, my, my content is open to the public.

45:01

So I've had people make fake accounts on me so many times. It's, it's insane, but, um, uh, yeah, if they all want to be, you haps,

45:10

Oh man, that just, you know, they're just these crackers out there.

45:16

They see the grace of God on your life. They're jealous, man. They all want to be happy Addison. No, they don't know.

45:22

But yeah, that's, so we're, um, we're all a branch ministries and we're the only, only report.

45:29

Oh, I'm sorry. No, go ahead. Oh, we're the only one for the only reform ministry.

45:35

Uh, I believe on the whole West coast that takes in the mentally ill and those that are dying of cancer.

45:42

So we have about 20 people that live with me and my wife at a time. And usually, um, when they, they, uh, they were here with them when they get to go be with the

45:52

Lord and, um, it's, it's beautiful. So yeah. Is it, so is it kind of like a little bit like hospice too?

45:59

Like if they have a cancer that they, they're there in like late stages or just, you're helping them medically through any stage of, uh, cancer.

46:09

It's, it's a little bit of both. So we're, um, hospice loves us. They were just here a little while ago.

46:14

I got a brother in the room dying of stage four brain cancer and, and lung cancer.

46:21

And, uh, um, yeah, so, uh, we were just, a lot of these guys don't have family and stuff.

46:28

And, um, and the Lord brought them here and we gave them the gospel of Jesus Christ and we got to see them grow.

46:35

And it's like, what a, what a beautiful thing to, that the Lord brought these people here so that they can be loved, so they can come to know

46:45

Christ and actually be taken care of. And so we take care of them, me, me and my associate pastor, um,

46:52

Hannah Stoddard and, um, and Dominic Bosco. And so, um, yeah, and the mentally ill, we help them get back on their meds and we, you know, uh, help untangle this bad theology they've gotten, uh, all of them, you know, and get them integrated back into society where they can be functional, you know, instead of, uh, um, isolating themselves and letting the mental illness get out of control.

47:20

Uh, we help guide them through that labyrinth upon a puzzle in a puzzle within a maze, you know?

47:25

So by the grace of God, uh, we do that. Well, I feel like that's probably a very physically, mentally, emotionally demanding ministry, but at the same time, probably extremely rewarding when someone comes to Christ, uh, and they, and they pass on into glory, you know?

47:46

Yeah. It's, it, it, it kind of messes with you a little bit sometimes, you know, because, um, you know, like, uh, yeah, it kind of messes with you sometimes.

47:57

That's why we, we, uh, it's, uh, go on vacations here, you know, we go on, you know, road trips clear cross country and we stretch that out as long as we can, but no, it's, it's absolutely beautiful when we get to sit back and just go, wow, my

48:13

God, my God did that. My God, you know, and, uh, to plant water and watch it grow as an honor, you know?

48:23

Yeah. It's, uh, you know, I, I kind of think too, I see so many of, uh, of these people that are politically progressive or leftists or on the and they, and they point the finger at Christians and say, you don't believe the gospel.

48:39

You don't take care of people. You're not truly pro -life if you're not pro -life from, from, uh, conception to death.

48:47

And, uh, I just, I just got a laugh because you probably hear stuff like that on, you know, on social media news to go, you guys have no idea what

48:54

I'm doing over here. Like we, we are living out the gospel daily in this ministry and taking care of the downtrodden and the sick and those people who don't have families and the widows and the orphans.

49:07

And I appreciate that, man, because that is such an important ministry. And I think you're,

49:13

I think the Lord brought you through all those things, all those years of rebellion, because you probably understand them, uh, in a way that most people can't, uh, just from your, your life and where the

49:25

Lord brought you through. So, um, Lord does everything in Providence. There are no coincidences with the side of God.

49:33

It is. I mean, brother, I can tell you story. I've been, I've been asked to write books about all of this and I'm like,

49:39

I don't even like to write my telephone number down. So that ain't going to happen, you know, but the, uh, the, it's what you just see, you have more,

49:48

I think that's when, when we have the doctrines of grace, all right. And you, you're doing this type of ministry, the reverence that you have for God, that God is the one that brought him here.

50:01

God's the one that called him out of the grave. God is the one that told us to take off the, the, the burial cloths and God's gonna, uh, um, keep him and love him and, and, and bring them to glory one day.

50:16

You know, I think that's the most awesome thing I've ever seen in my life. I don't know what all these charismatics, what they're,

50:23

I look at all, they do. And I'm like, sucka. I've watched people come to life and I don't write shamelama ding dong.

50:31

Like, I mean, like, it's like, wow. You know, but I know I get a little, you know.

50:37

No, I get it. And not, you know, look, I don't want to get turned this episode into, uh, you know, bashing on one denomination, but at the same time, it's like,

50:47

I I've had that same feeling you have. I've like, I've experienced the true power of God in so much is watching someone's life be fully transformed.

50:56

Uh, you know, uh, uh, jumping around with emotionalism and, uh, you know, and, and saying, uh, you know, repeating, uh, uh, uh, a language that you, that you think are that of angels.

51:11

And that's a cheap imitation of the power of God. I really do believe that the true, the true power of God, the power of what

51:18

Christ does is he restores, he renews, he changes, he leads you to repentance.

51:24

Doesn't mean you're going to have an easy life. Doesn't mean you got everything paid for and money in the bank. It means that you are a new creature.

51:31

And I think both of us have experienced that. It sounds like you have, I know I have. And, um, like I said before, at the top of the show, that, that is why

51:40

I wake up grateful every morning. So as we round this out, we finish this up, give us a final word, happy on a unity.

51:47

Give us a final word on the goodness of God. Give us a final word on whatever the heck you want to give us a final word on.

51:53

And, uh, and, uh, let the listener know what you're all about. Well, the infinite became finite.

52:03

The word became flesh. God became flesh and he came and he was born of a virgin.

52:09

He was born in Bethlehem and he came and he lived a sinless life, a life that you and I can never live. And he came to fulfill the law, something you and I can never do.

52:18

We know the righteous requirements of, uh, of sin breaking the law or right is death.

52:25

And that he that knew no sin became sin so that we might have the righteousness of God. He died a violent death.

52:32

He was hung up on a cross and he died and he wrote for the forgiveness of sin so that, that we can be standing with, with, with God, the father.

52:40

And he died and he rose three days later with a resurrection so powerful that others rose with them.

52:46

And the calls us to repent and believe the gospel of Jesus Christ. Woo. Amen. That's what

52:52

I'm talking about. I love it when the final word turns into some preaching, some gospel, uh, happy man.

52:59

It was so good meeting you a few months ago. I hope this, that was, I know it's going to be a beginning of a long friendship.

53:05

Anytime you want to come on here and chop it up, uh, on the podcast, feel free. And guys, if you're listening right now, make sure you go check out happy on open air theology.

53:15

I know you're on there quite often. I see a live as well on open air theology podcast. Um, I think you're on there.

53:21

It's, it's you, Jeff rice, Jeffrey rice and Braden Patterson, correct? That is right.

53:27

And you guys get into all kinds of good conversations. So make sure you guys go listen to them, subscribe to them on their podcasts as well.

53:35

And brother, we will always keep you in prayer and support as you're out there evangelizing, preaching on the street corner, um, and bringing glory to God and everything you do.

53:43

Thanks for taking time with us today, brother. Oh, thank you, man. And God bless man. Right.

53:49

Awesome. Guys. Uh, we appreciate you listening to another episode of dead men walking podcast as always.

53:55

Remember the chief end of man is to glorify God. Enjoy him forever. God bless guys.

54:02

Be sure to follow us on Facebook and Instagram at dead men walking podcast for full video podcast episodes and clips or email us at dead men walking podcast at gmail .com.