From Darkness to Light: Kidnapped to Gangs to Bible Rebinding

Andrew Rappaport's Rapp Report

Subscribe

Download

Share

00

00:00

Rutgers Health takes an integrated approach to educating students, providing clinical care for our communities, and conducting innovative research to create life -changing health for all.

00:10

As New Jersey's academic health center, Rutgers Health brings discoveries in the lab directly to patients across the state and around the world.

00:18

Our eight schools, Behavioral Health Network, and four centers and institutes are located just outside New York City, in Newark and New Brunswick.

00:27

Together, we're breathing new life into health. Judy was boring. Hello. Then, Judy discovered

00:33

ChumbaCasino .com. It's my little escape. Now, Judy's the life of the party. Oh, baby, mama's bringing home the bacon.

00:40

Whoa, take it easy, Judy. The Chumba life is for everybody. So go to ChumbaCasino .com

00:47

and play over 100 casino -style games. Join today and play for free for your chance to redeem some serious prizes.

00:54

Chumba. ChumbaCasino .com. No purchase necessary. Void where prohibited by law. 18 -plus terms and conditions apply.

00:59

See website for details. Welcome to The Rap Report with Andrew Rapaport, where we provide biblical interpretations and applications.

01:12

This is a ministry of Striving for Eternity and the Christian podcast community. For more content or to request a speaker for your church, go to strivingforeternity .org.

01:27

All right. Well, welcome back to another Rap Report. I am your host, Andrew Rapaport, and I am with a very special guest.

01:36

You may not have known of him unless you, of course, love fine Bibles.

01:41

Then you will have known of him. But my guest today is Jeffrey Rice, and he is the owner of Tex Post.

01:50

Tex, I can't do the Latin. You're just going to have to do it. I can do the Post and the Lux. Post Tenebras Lux, something like that.

01:58

He likes Latin words. We're going to have him explain what that is, because that actually, the meaning of his business is actually a lot of his testimony.

02:08

So, Jeff, welcome to The Rap Report. Thanks, man. Thanks for having me. I appreciate your friendship and all that you're doing for the kingdom of God.

02:19

But it is Post Tenebras Lux Bible rebinding.

02:25

I say it again, Post Tenebras Lux Bible rebinding after darkness light.

02:33

See, I have enough trouble with English, bro. You got to throw the Latin there. I know, man.

02:39

I know. I have a lot of trouble with English. I speak street

02:44

English, you know? I mean, when I'm up in a pulpit preaching, there's no telling what's going to come out.

02:54

When I listen to John MacArthur, I have to Google what he says sometimes, but if somebody listens to me and they

03:01

Google it, Google don't even know what I'm saying. No, no. If they would Google it in the, what's the internet?

03:10

There's an internet lingo dictionary now. I used to have to do it with my kids.

03:16

They would do all these, you know, BRB, and I'm like, what is BRB? I still get it. I get text messages from them, and I'm like, what was this?

03:25

They have to explain it to me. So, folks may not know who you are.

03:30

You and I set this up right across from each other at G3, which was really painful for me to sit there with all of your

03:41

Bibles out there, and we'll get to that later, but oh, they were so soft, so nice.

03:47

I wanted to buy them all, but my wife was with me. That was a real problem. But let's start with introducing yourself to the audience, and you and I first met back at the

04:00

Super Bowl, and so maybe you could go into a little bit of your background of who you are, not all your testimony yet, but then how you and I first met.

04:11

Yes. Like you said, my name is Jeffrey Rice. I grew up in South Nashville.

04:18

I started street preaching probably in 2013, and I had an opportunity to go to the

04:27

Super Bowl when it was in Phoenix, and on my way, like I don't follow football at all, and on my way there, we got pulled over, and because I didn't know, like I told the cops that we was going to the

04:41

Super Bowl to preach, but he asked me who was playing, and I didn't know who was playing. Yeah, so all of us street preachers were put in the back of a police car, and my buddy

04:55

Jamie Terry looks at me. He's like, you look pretty comfortable over there, and because I grew up, you know, every time

05:02

I got pulled over, I was put in the police cars. You know, it was all good, I guess, but yeah, so it was on our way.

05:09

We went to Phoenix, and that's where I met you. You were a straight -up extrovert.

05:16

I was, you know, just kind of standoffish to myself, introvert, but we had you and I myself have a mixed martial arts background, so I heard you talking about it, and then, you know, like if we can talk about something

05:30

I know about, I'm pretty good with talking, but other than that, like it is literally easier for me to stand on a box and proclaim the magnificent works of God than to walk over and introduce myself to somebody.

05:43

I don't know. Yeah, I don't know, but once I saw that we had some kind of connection, walked over, started talking to you, and yeah.

05:56

So yeah, we had gotten together there, then we met up again. I guess the next time we met up was

06:01

Truth Matters. Yeah, Truth Matters. Yeah, you kind of gave me a little interview there, showing my

06:07

Bibles. I think you were picking fun at somebody. Me?

06:12

Never, never. I might have been picking a little bit of fun of Chris Hanholds, who is not there to see all the wonderful books and the

06:22

Bibles, and so yeah, we might have, maybe, I don't know.

06:28

I mean, it would be unusual for me to pick fun at someone. I mean, I wouldn't think that that would happen.

06:38

Never, never. So, we ended up being at G3 together, right across from each other, and you were able to have your

06:48

Bibles there, but as we got to talking and wanted to do this, you have a very interesting background that I think could really encourage some folks.

07:01

I think there's a lot of people who, they think of their past, and for a lot of people, it's like, well, what, you know, for some people, it's what could

07:12

God, you know, could God really use my past? For others, they think, you know, that they're still dwelling in just rough upbringings, and your testimony is one that has a lot of different components to it, and it's really,

07:28

I think, like you're naming your business, right? From darkness to light, it reveals what

07:33

God can do in someone's life. So, let's start at your earlier age. You were kidnapped at,

07:39

I think, 11 years old, was it? Yeah. You know, we grew up very poor, and so, when

07:47

I was 11, I was in what's called Claude's Trailer Park, and this guy next door, and I come out one morning, and he was wrapping his dog up, and I just kind of looked over at him, and he told me, he asked me if I would bury his dog, that he'd give me five dollars, and I was always a hustler trying to make some money, and so,

08:11

I was like, yeah, and so, I picked the dog up, took it to the woods, and started burying it, and then, you know, he just come in behind me, took me into his house, or whatever, another trailer, and just ganged me up, man, and he, like a lot of people talk about the devil, you know, and at that moment,

08:37

I felt like that I was there, like I was in the presence of the devil, you know, this guy would,

08:45

I mean, just evil, man, he, a master of manipulation, brainwashing, he,

08:53

I mean, like, so, whenever I went to tell what took place at 11, you know, the police can only get out of you what a frightened 11 -year -old boy is able to tell, and so, now,

09:08

I'm almost 40, and I ain't afraid of anything, and so,

09:13

I mean, you know, telling my story now is, I mean, there's still some, you know, but I'm not afraid, you know, the guy opened the

09:23

Bible, you know, professing to be a prophet, and, you know, I'm not even sure who

09:29

I'll tell this part to, but professing to be a prophet, but then he start, like, as I'm starting to try to escape, he starts praying, but he's praying to Satan, and I can remember, you know, how he would start it up, or whatever, but he told me, he said, if I finish praying this prayer,

09:49

Satan is going to appear, and he's going to take the life of whoever I tell him to, and he's not taking mine, and he's not going to take yours, but I'm going to tell him to take your parents, and so,

10:04

I stopped fighting. I didn't know what to do. Eventually, I was able to go free, like, by him, but under a brainwash manipulation,

10:19

I had to return, or he was going to kill my family. So, you stayed with him for the sake of your family?

10:26

Yeah, well, there was a two -week period where it was as if, I guess, like, if he was to go back, it would look as if I had ran away, and that's how

10:35

I had to make it look, because he took me, but whenever he let me go,

10:41

I had to come back, or he was going to kill my parents. Well, he was going to have

10:46

Satan to kill my parents. Now, how long were you, did he hold you? Two weeks. It was about two weeks, but the whole thing lasted for about three months.

10:57

Yeah, so, there was others involved that actually was able to escape and tell.

11:05

Yeah, I mean, the guy, I think he got 90 years for it, but still,

11:10

I mean, there's only, at 11 years old, so much that I could articulate and express, and it's still out of fear, because the whole time

11:21

I'm thinking, he's about to have Satan come and take my family, even though he was in jail.

11:27

Like, I was 11, you know, not knowing what was going on. And this is the thing that I try to explain to folks when it comes to criminals like this, that they will use techniques that are called grooming.

11:44

They use family as those you love to get you to comply with them, to control you.

11:52

That's why when my kids were little, when they're growing up, I always told them, anybody who tells you not to tell me something, they plan you harm, and they know that I'm the only one that's going to protect you.

12:05

I said, so, anyone that tells you don't tell your parents, you must tell me. And I've always told the kids, there's no one that's going to hurt me if you're in trouble.

12:16

I'll go after them with every ounce of energy I have left. But, you know, if someone tells you that they're going to harm me if you don't listen to what, if you don't do what they say,

12:27

I always told the kids, they're looking to harm to you, and they know I'm your protector. And so,

12:32

I would always tell them that. Because that's exactly what, you know, people who are doing grooming, you know, are going to do.

12:40

They use the ones you love to get you to comply. I think of the

12:46

Elizabeth Smart, the guy who kidnapped her. She had, you know, it was a situation where she had, you know, really complied with the kidnappers, because, you know, or the kidnapper, because he said he was going to harm her family.

13:06

And so, for her sister's sake, she, you know, she was like, okay, I'm not going to, you know,

13:11

I'm not going to do anything. I'll go with him. That's the worst thing.

13:16

You never want to go. Once you go, you're in trouble. And at 11 years old, I mean, that's, you know, for folks who are listening,

13:26

I mean, think about what life is like at 11 year old. You're going to, you believe the adults, but it's got to be scary when someone's telling you that they're

13:33

Satan, or they have access to Satan, you know, and they're telling you that. Yeah, I mean, like I said, now that I look back, like,

13:43

I feel like I was in the presence of Satan. I mean, he was, it was pure evil.

13:48

I don't know how else to explain it. I mean, it was this madness for a human being.

13:57

I mean, because there were, there were many, like, like, like when he came out in the open, many, many kids fell under the abuse of this guy.

14:10

Wow. And you were, you were able to escape from there. Life just turned out great, didn't it?

14:17

Oh yeah. Wonderful. That was the end of all your trials in life, right? Yeah.

14:23

I mean, I mean, I mean, but this is what I try to tell people, because I know a lot of people use stuff like this as an excuse.

14:30

And, you know, but if I was to get in my vehicle and start driving, and instead of looking out my front glass,

14:38

I look at my rear view mirror driving forward, I'm eventually going to hit something and crash.

14:45

And in life, you cannot, like when, when, when, when you're trying to go somewhere and be somebody and, and live and raise your family, you cannot look at your past.

14:59

You can't let that stuff define you. You have to be focused and look into, hopefully they're looking to Christ.

15:09

But even if you're not a Christian, if you look backwards, you are going to crash and burn.

15:18

You have to look forward. You can't let your past define who you are.

15:24

Yeah. And you just can't. And that's the thing that I really want folks to get to by the end of this is to realize, because you and I talked briefly before we started recording, but it's something that really burdens my heart is seeing so many people who really, their spiritual growth is stymied because of something they think is in the past that's preventing them.

15:47

And it's really a self, kind of a self -inflicted wound. It's a, it's a, it's a self -limitation.

15:53

They're not letting God do what God can do in a life. And that's why I think your testimony is, it really is one that I want people to hear because life didn't get easy.

16:04

I mean, being kidnapped at 11, very few people know that experience. Very few people can talk about what that's like, but you went from there.

16:14

Life didn't get easier. It continued to get harder. You, you ended up, well, what, what did it, after you, you escaped, what happened?

16:23

Did you, were you able to reunite with your family? Yeah. I mean, but it wasn't a real good, like, again, it was very poor.

16:32

So at 12, my mom had to be in a hospital for, I think, for about a half of the year.

16:39

And so my dad struggling for work, had to go to Florida when, back when the hurricane

16:44

Andrew hit. And so he went up to Florida to try to work. And my older brother was with him and my,

16:53

I don't know where my sister was, but at 12, I had a stay in my house that was in by myself.

16:58

And so I was dependent on the park. We lived, we lived about five blocks from a park and every day during the summertime, they would bring sandwiches.

17:07

People would bring sandwiches and feed the kids around the neighborhood. So I would go there and eat.

17:13

But other than that, you know, like I was just having to defend for myself at 12. And then my brother at that time didn't really like me and they would beat me up all the time.

17:22

But whenever I was 14, I got robbed and beat up pretty bad at gunpoint.

17:27

And so the next day I got in a gang because there was a gang in the neighborhood.

17:33

And I just, I just felt like I needed somebody to have my back. You know, I got tired of all this stuff taking place.

17:39

We got involved with a gang and, and then like, like the trajectory of, of, of that really, uh, gave me like a

17:49

God complex because like, it wasn't long afterwards, you know, because we moved a lot that I had.

17:55

So I was leaving this neighborhood to go to another. And so the gang had me to, to raise up people in, in another neighborhood.

18:04

So I was like, basically they were sending me out just like you would plan a church. They were sending me out to plan a gang.

18:11

And so I moved to a neighborhood and, uh, you know, uh, and by this time

18:18

I done got enough galls in me to where I would just fight and anybody I'd walk around with a steel pipe in my pocket, hit folks with it.

18:24

Like I was just, I didn't lost my mind. And so I raised up a, a gang and I was 15 and I had people from, from 16 to 25 that would do whatever

18:37

I told them to do. And so he gave me this God complex. And then, um, uh, you know,

18:43

I had two, two drive -bys pulled on me. People were trying to kill me. I mean, it was just, just a crazy life, man.

18:52

And, uh. But you can see how someone who had been kidnapped at a young age, been beaten by his, his own family, that gang attitude and mentality could be very appealing.

19:05

It could be, I could see where you could get a God complex because you feel I'm in control, which is really the issue.

19:10

There's you, you feel that there's people who are going to do your bidding. There's people who you have say over their lives and it gives you that sense that you're in control.

19:22

Were you really in control? It felt like it, because like, if I was like, I had this thing, like if I was to say that somebody wasn't my boy and if I was to turn around by the time

19:34

I turned back around, if that guy wasn't drooling, like beat up, the person that was with me would be violated.

19:41

So, so I had to where people had to do what I said. So I felt like I was in control, but ultimately

19:48

I wasn't, I was totally out of control. I was out of, I was, you know, I was out of the will of God.

19:53

I was, you know, uh, but, but, but, but even through this, even through this, you know,

20:00

I, I say this and tell you how terrible I was. Even through this, there was not one night

20:06

I didn't find myself praying to a God. I didn't know because I could not sleep all the crap that I've done that day to keep me up.

20:16

I lay in bed and I think about it and I contemplate it and I find myself praying to a

20:23

God. I did not know asking for forgiveness for, uh, somehow to change my situation, uh, get me out of, uh, uh, of the, of the stuff that I was in.

20:36

I didn't even know how to pray or what to pray for. Like I see people do the cross over their head and, and, uh, you know,

20:44

I was doing that. I thought maybe that was how you do it. Like I know

20:50

I could not sleep and I always knew that there was a God like, like you can't look at creation and think that this stuff just came into existence.

20:58

So, so it wasn't the fact that I didn't know. I just didn't know who he was. Creation declared his glory. Yeah. I was going to say you were praying to a

21:05

God. You didn't know. You just didn't know about him. I mean, everyone knows

21:11

God exists. Yeah. Yeah. I definitely knew this. I just didn't know him.

21:17

Yeah. So 11 years old, you're kidnapped. You're, you're not having a good family upbringing.

21:25

You end up being robbed at gunpoint at 14. You're running a gang at 15.

21:31

Uh, that's a rough background. How did Christ get ahold of you? It was nine 11.

21:37

I'd say it was the starting point. I was, uh, I was at a trailer park. Like if you know anything about Nashville, that they have a fairgrounds.

21:45

And so across the street from the fairgrounds of the trailer park, it's no longer there. But, um, I was in and out of that trailer park most of my life.

21:53

And, uh, I was there playing hacky sack with my homeboy and was drinking beers and stuff like that.

22:00

And, uh, and the next thing I know, people start running out, uh, talking about, uh, you know, so, so, so this was nine 11 when the tower sale, people start running out saying, man, we're being attacked.

22:12

We're we're under attack. Terrorists have hit, you know, the, uh, New York they're, they're coming through.

22:18

Buildings are falling. And I'm like, what are y 'all talking about? And so me and my boy, we stopped playing hacky sack.

22:24

We're going there. We start watching the news and stuff like that. And then this one guy was like, man, this is in the Bible.

22:29

The Bible talks about this. And, uh, and I just kind of made a sly remark. And I was like, man, every time something happens, this in the

22:37

Bible, everybody says it's in the Bible. And so I asked my boy, I said, Hey, do you have a

22:43

Bible? And he says, I think so. And so I asked, you know, my mom, I was like, do we have a Bible? And I thought

22:49

I found the Bible that day. And, uh, and, and I tried and I, and from that day,

22:54

I just, I just, I tried to read it, but, uh, turns out I couldn't read that.

22:59

Well, uh, yeah, I'm dyslexic, but, um, from, from moving a lot. Cause I can remember we moved like six times in one year, like, like we just moved a lot.

23:08

Like I just stopped trying and, um, I really couldn't read well. And because of my dyslexia and stuff like that,

23:16

I just stopped trying, but, uh, I began to read the Bible. I would read three words, skip 10 and, uh, over, uh, six months

23:26

I'd read, you know, I could read a little more and skip less, but over about a period of five years,

23:32

I taught myself how to read just from reading the Bible. Um, I still, I still wasn't able to spell that well, but I could,

23:39

I could read really good. Um, but, uh, so I started reading the Bible at nine 11 and, uh, 2003,

23:47

I started going to church. We moved across the street from a little Southern Baptist church.

23:53

I had been reading the Bible. So I thought I'd go, I'd walked in there. Uh, the preacher gave an altar call.

24:00

I walked up, signed the card, shook a hand. They asked where I was coming from. Um, I told him where I was coming from.

24:08

Like, I didn't even understand what that's about. And, uh, he, he stood me up and he said, this person was coming from such and such.

24:15

Do we receive him? Whole congregation said yes. And that was it.

24:21

They didn't have me to pray a prayer. They didn't ask me to repent. I didn't hear the gospel, any of that.

24:27

Um, they told me I was a Christian six weeks later. I'm teaching Bible. I'm teaching a

24:33

Sunday school. I'm teaching vacation Bible school and I'm unconverted.

24:38

Like I I've been reading the Bible, you know, I'm, I'm seeking this stuff out. But then in 2005,

24:44

I heard Ray comfort preach the gospel on the open air on a TBN.

24:51

Yeah. On TVN. And I, you know, I saw myself just naked before God, knowing that I've committed treason against the key.

25:01

And, uh, like everything just started making sense the way he presented that the gospel message.

25:07

And I've been, I've been at this time I've been in church for two years, but never heard a clear articulation of the gospel.

25:15

So you're in church two years teaching Sunday school unconverted. Yeah. Yep. At this time,

25:22

I'm also a leader of a youth thing. Well, I mean, what that first off, what that tells me is that people recognize that a natural leadership ability you must have that they,

25:36

I mean, I would not call that a solid church. If they just, you're, you're come visiting and they're going to declare you saved.

25:42

And now they're going to put you in charge of teaching Sunday school when you're not even converted. That speaks volumes of them.

25:49

But it also says that they must have recognized some leadership ability that you have to put you in charge like that.

25:56

I mean, the only leadership ability that I had at that time was running a gang.

26:04

I mean, you know, which I could see how God would use that, I guess. I mean, and I do have a, you know, cause in, in, in working like I've, I've roofed houses for 25 years.

26:16

And so it wasn't long after I start on a roofing crew, I w I would be the foreman or the leader of that crew.

26:23

Um, I just, you know, I knew what I was doing, but, but, but when it came to Christianity at that time,

26:32

I mean, I knew, like I read the Bible and I knew how to teach certain stories in the

26:38

Bible, but I didn't know the gospel. No one ever asked me what the gospel was. I didn't, you know,

26:45

I wouldn't be able to expositionally walk you through a text. You know, I didn't know how to study.

26:51

No one took me under their wing to like an older man is to take a younger man under his wing and to raise him up like, like none of that happened.

27:01

And this is, this is the importance of discipleship, but for folks who listened to last week's episode, when

27:07

I had Dr. Phil Atterbury on, you know, that we talked about discipleship and the importance of it.

27:13

And this is, I mean, Jeff, your story just plays right into that. What we had talked about was the need for churches to disciple, to be pouring into another person's life because for you and I can understand something.

27:28

I think a lot of people that grew up in church don't understand. People who grow up in church, they're used to the

27:35

Christian lingo. They're used to all the things that the trappings of church, and they don't know what it's like for those of us who have no idea because we didn't grow up in the church and we walk in and everything's new for us.

27:50

And we just, we want someone to basically tell us, give us the information, tell us what the rules are to explain all this stuff that everybody else seems to know, but you don't.

28:01

I mean, it always used to bother me when I started going to church, everybody knew the hymns that were being sung.

28:08

They didn't need to look in the hymnal. And I'm the only one trying to look it up. You know, I'd be the one in church trying to flip, like going to the beginning of the table of contents to figure out where the books are because I didn't know.

28:21

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. And this is why discipleship is so important because there's people who may know the lingo, but they don't know

28:31

Christ and they can fool people. I mean, they could have you teaching a Sunday school when you're not even converted, but the thing is they'll have all those people that, like you said, you didn't know what was going on when they're like, do we receive him?

28:44

And you're going, what's happening? Yeah, I didn't know what was going on. I'll tell you a story. I had a friend of mine call me and tell me that they're about to start, that their church is sending them around their apartment to teach

28:58

Bible school or Bible study. And I asked, I said, so what will you be teaching? And the person said, well,

29:04

I'm not sure. I said, well, how about the gospel? She said, huh, I didn't think about that.

29:11

And I said, do you know the gospel? She said, yeah, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. I said, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, not the gospels, you know, the books of the

29:22

Bible, but the gospel, the power of God and the salvation. Do you know that? And they befriended me for asking them, do you know the gospel?

29:33

Because that was too convicting. Totally unfriended me, had nothing else to do with me for asking that question. Yeah, well, because you got a little bit too close, a little bit, you know, someone had, someone from my old church had posted this, and I shared it on my

29:48

Facebook. It says, accountability feels like an attack when you're not ready to acknowledge how your behavior harms others.

29:55

Read it again. So I'll read it again. Accountability feels like an attack when you're not ready to acknowledge how your behavior harms others.

30:07

And I mean, I think that that's what they were experiencing. They were, they felt you were attacking them because they're not ready to admit that they don't know

30:14

Christ. It's crazy, man. Like when I witness to somebody, because I'm real big, you know,

30:20

I'm witnessing, especially to the Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses and stuff like that. I have no problem with asking them three questions, who is

30:28

God, who is Christ, and what's the gospel? All right. I have no problem with asking them that. And let me tell you something else.

30:34

I have no problem with asking someone that in my church also. You know, if I meet someone and they're a Christian, I have no problem saying, hey, what's the gospel?

30:44

And it's okay if they don't know, because I'd like to, you know, I'd like to teach them, you know, and stuff like that. Yeah. I mean, the thing is, is that when

30:54

I have people over and they say they're a Christian, I'll ask, so how do you come to Christ? And I remember at a church

31:01

I attended years ago, there was a guy, he wasn't a member of the church, his wife was saved, but we came to discover he wasn't.

31:09

I mean, we sat there and, you know, have a Bible study, and so I just asked everyone, so how did everyone come to know

31:15

Christ? And we listened to his testimony, and it was like, you're not saved. You know,

31:20

I had in a church, which is sad, but I had in a church where we were visiting, we ended up getting to know folks there and invited all the leadership at different times over our house, and I determined that half the leadership didn't know

31:36

Christ. I mean, one of the guys, I asked him, so how did you come to know Christ? He goes, well, you know, my wife was born a

31:43

Christian, and I just always liked football. They used to have a football, you know, team, and so I played with them, so I just started coming to church.

31:51

And I don't always know the best way to word things. I'm a little bit blunt, and I just looked at him and said, what does that have to do with Christ?

32:00

That has nothing to do with Christ. Yeah, but we need that, man. We need people that are going to hold people, speak to the fire, hold them accountable.

32:10

Like my previous church, in order to become a member, you had to ask their questions, you know, like what is the gospel?

32:19

You know, when did you get saved? How do you know you're saved? You know, like they're prying in, and it's good.

32:28

Like this is good. It's not a bad thing to ask these questions.

32:34

You don't want, you know, I mean, you at least want to know that the people that are members of your church can clearly articulate to you the gospel.

32:43

I mean, if you tell me that you know something, you don't have to believe it, but if you tell me you believe something, you better know it.

32:51

You better be able to defend it. Yeah, and the thing is, we also have to be cautious because there are some people who don't know all the lingo, and sometimes we're looking for specific wordings, and you have people who may not have the education or ability to express things as clearly as you might want it to be expressed.

33:13

Maybe you've studied the scriptures well, and therefore, you really know what you want to hear.

33:18

You want to hear about repentance. You want to hear about them turning from sin to Christ, about the resurrection.

33:25

You may want to hear about that stuff, but not everyone knows how to explain that language, and so you've got to be careful to dig in.

33:33

I'm thinking with my mother -in -law, who didn't speak English, so my wife was talking with her and really concerned about her soul when she was living with us, and we knew she was dying, so my wife was quite concerned.

33:46

My wife determined she thinks that my mother -in -law was a believer, but she really didn't know how to express it in language.

33:55

She didn't have much of an education. Even though it seems she may have turned to Christ, she really wasn't in good churches.

34:02

The Chinese churches don't teach doctrine, so my wife had to dig in and ask her a lot of questions to see what was really happening.

34:11

What was her view of sin? And that really helped to identify whether she really was a believer.

34:17

She hated sin, not the consequence of sin, but the sin itself, and the reason why is because that's what

34:24

Christ died for. Well, that's what you want to hear, something like that, but she didn't know how to express that.

34:31

So, hey, listen, after this commercial, what I want to do is I'd like to talk a little bit about your

34:39

Bible rebinding with the Latin company that you created, because I'm so great at pronouncing things.

34:44

So a guy that's dyslexic says, oh yeah, let me create a company and we'll use Latin. Hello? What were you thinking, man?

34:57

All right, so I want to talk about your rebinding company after this break.

35:05

Ding dong, Jehovah's Witnesses. Ding dong, Mormons.

35:11

Christian, are you ready to defend the faith when false religions ring your doorbell?

35:16

Do you know what your Muslim and Jewish friends believe you will if you get Andrew Rappaport's book,

35:23

What Do They Believe? When we witness to people, we need to present the truth, but it is very wise to know what they believe, and you will get

35:31

Andrew Rappaport's book at whatdotheybelieve .com. Would you consider donating to Striving for Eternity?

35:39

This ministry is one that tries to reach out to some of those smaller churches that most people, most speakers want to avoid, but by our monthly donors, it allows us to get into smaller churches and provide for them the seminars and conferences that usually only larger churches can do.

35:59

We can do that because we have monthly supporters who on a regular basis support us so we could support others.

36:07

Would you consider being one of our monthly supporters today? You can go to strivingforeternity .org

36:14

slash donate and set up for a monthly donation today. Your donation helps us to be able to spread the gospel around the world, to be able to disciple others, and to provide resources for churches and people who are struggling to grow deeper in God's Word.

36:34

Consider donating today at strivingforeternity .org slash donate, and we thank you very much for your consideration.

36:43

All right, and so we do appreciate every one of our donors that help us out. So with that,

36:48

I want to get into really this ministry, how you got into Bible rebinding.

36:54

And folks, if you go to PTL, that stands for post whatever that word is in the middle, starts with T and ends with Lux.

37:05

Okay, I have to get it down. What is it? Post Tenderbrush. Tenderbrush.

37:11

Tenderbrush. Post Tenderbrush Lux. So it's PTLBibleRebinding .com.

37:17

The neat thing is when you get there, first thing, we get to see you in action there on that website. You have a video background which is kind of neat of you actually going through the process of cutting down the calf skin and binding a

37:35

Bible, which is really kind of neat. So how did you get into Bible rebinding and why?

37:42

Well, like I had said previously that I was a roofer. I roofed houses for 25 years.

37:49

I woke up one morning, like me and my wife were into it.

37:56

And I had just been, I don't know, like I've been going crazy. And so what happens is about to introduce you to why

38:06

I think I was going crazy. And then my wife was into it. And I had been sleeping on the couch.

38:12

And I just had it in my head. You know what? I'm done. I just can't deal with it no more.

38:18

I'm going to leave. And I had saved up some money. I think I was like a week out from having about two grand or so saved up.

38:26

And I was just going to be out. And I went to get up one morning to go to work. And man,

38:32

I passed out. Like I stood up and my eyes was like, you know, like I got real dizzy.

38:38

And it was like those old TV screens where it went black all the way to a dot of white.

38:44

And then it went out. And I hit that ground. And as soon as I hit the ground, I woke up inside.

38:50

I was like, man, something's going on. So I kind of pushed myself against the couch. I lift myself up.

38:56

And I went to stand up again. And man, I like it was as if someone had put me in a hamster ball and started shaking it.

39:05

And I started screaming like I was screaming help.

39:11

And my wife comes running in there. What's going on? And I just could not move.

39:16

I could not move any no matter where I move. I was sitting up to lay down.

39:23

I'd pass out if I lay down to sit up. I pass out like everything. I could not move.

39:28

And so they called my guy that I was working for for a guy

39:34

I worked for for about 15 years. He came over and he picked me up. And as he's picking me up, I'm passing out the whole time.

39:40

He carried me to the car and he rushed me to the hospital. And so it turns out that I have positional vertigo.

39:48

And so where if I move from one position to another, I get really dizzy. And which

39:53

I do still like if I'm laying down and I have to get up for something, use the restroom or something like I'll walk into a door.

40:02

There's not a door I don't walk into. But if I have positional vertigo like that, it was explaining to being dizzy.

40:10

But the doctors did not understand why I was passing out. And and what I was telling you earlier about what happened to me as a child, like this is stuff

40:18

I never told anybody, like, this was going to go to the grave with me, you know, like, no one knew this about me.

40:26

Just recently, have I started sharing this because of this purpose, the doctors started rooting into my childhood, what turns out, they believe that I have

40:37

PTSD. And, and once I started looking into it, I can remember having the symptoms of it at 14.

40:45

My tongue swelling in my mouth, vehicles driving down a road three blocks away from me, and I could hear them, and it would hurt my ears, and I would hide.

40:57

And so, and it turns out that because of my childhood, what happened at 1114, you know, and onward, like, like, it's really messed with my mind.

41:10

And so whenever I would go to stand up, and I would get dizzy, the

41:16

PTSD would kick in, like it would start freaking out.

41:21

And my brain didn't know what was going on. So whenever I get dizzy, and my the

41:27

PTSD would kick in, like with anxiety and stuff like yeah, my brain would shut itself off to keep me to keep me from hurting myself, because it didn't know what was going on.

41:37

So I've learned not to hold anything in. And I'm just, that's why

41:43

I'm so open with my story now, because man, holding it in has hurt me.

41:48

And because of the PTSD is why I was leaving my wife, and I didn't even know it because I didn't know how to fight with her.

41:55

You know, I didn't know how to verbally argue with her whenever I'd get mad, like I would just shut down and not talk because PTSD, there's a thing called fight or flight.

42:06

Well, growing up in the hood, and being a gangbanger, I knew how to fight, you know, like, like we're talking about, you know, mixed martial arts, like I could throw down, but I don't know how to verbal I didn't know how to verbally fight with her, because I wasn't gonna hit her.

42:20

She's a woman and it's my wife. But it was the same thing with my pastors over the year. You know, like, if I get into it with my pastor, we'd have a disagreement.

42:28

I didn't know how to argue with him. I couldn't punch the guy. You know, I'm a Christian. I'm not to react with my fist, but I still had this anger in me that I could not control, couldn't control it at all.

42:41

And so instead of staying around and talking it out, I would just leave. I'd get myself out of that situation.

42:49

And so it was fight or flight, I'm either gonna fight you or I'm gonna leave. And so because of becoming a

42:55

Christian and not using my hands to solve my problems, I had a trajectory of leaving.

43:03

Which a lot of people do. They run. It's much easier to run than face difficulty.

43:09

And a lot of people do that. So how did that get you from doing roofing, which by the way,

43:15

I mean, think about this. It is mind boggling. If the guys in the gang knew that you had positional vertigo, could they have used that against you?

43:24

But how did that get you into Bible rebinding? And then I want to start talking about the craftsmanship of what your work is like.

43:33

Well, like I said, I was still in the hospital. The doctor noticed that I was really fidgety with my hands and just told me that I needed a hobby.

43:44

Once I got out of the hospital, I couldn't go back to roofing. I tried to do electrician work.

43:53

Roofing could be a problem if you have positional vertigo. You're on a roof and all of a sudden you get dizzy and fall off.

43:59

Yeah, that could be bad. Yeah. Well, I mean, I went to work for an electrician company and I was on a 12 foot ladder and I took my head and looked straight up and ended up passing out on a 12 foot ladder.

44:11

But I fell against duck work and so it kept me because I had like one foot on the ladder and the rest of my body was weaned up against this duck.

44:20

And when I woke up, I was just shaking like I couldn't do anything. I couldn't provide for my family. I went to try to become like I was trying to do other things.

44:30

I'd go and take a physical. They had me lay down on my back and stand straight up and I passed out. So I was just laying there and couldn't do anything.

44:37

I'm at home stuck. I can't provide for my family. There's nothing I can do. I'm not really, you know,

44:44

I don't have an education or anything like that. And if I did, like I'd have to be able to physically do stuff that at that time

44:53

I couldn't do. And so the doctor said I needed a hobby and I had bought a Bible for like 250 bucks.

44:59

It was a Schuyler quintile and I was just looking at it and because of my background and me being a master at working with copper,

45:07

I mean I could take copper and form it to anything. I started thinking, man, I could probably make this

45:13

Bible. And I wasn't thinking about it to sell or anything at that time. I just, I needed something to do with my hand.

45:20

Like I was going crazy. And I told my wife, I said, I think I could make this. And at this time she had no faith in me at all.

45:29

But I conned her in for letting me sell her Bible. I sold her

45:34

Bible and then I sold a couple of my Bibles and I bought some leather and I bought some tools.

45:42

I just started trying to make them and started posting them on Facebook and people liked them and asking me how much, how much.

45:55

And then after about, after about 20 or so that I've made, my wife was like, you can really do this.

46:03

And so we, you know, we didn't want to do anything. You know, because she was a lawyer at the time.

46:10

I mean, if it wasn't for that, I'd probably been doing it the other way. And I was like, well, I can do that. Make some money.

46:15

She was like, no, we got to start a business, pay taxes. I was like, hold on now.

46:22

Taxation's a thing, you know, but you know, her being a lawyer, she wouldn't let me get away with anything. And so we, we, we went and applied for a business license and, and just started

46:33

Post Tenderbrush Luxe. And, and, and God has blessed it.

46:39

Well, let's, I want to talk about the quality of the work because there, there are people that would think, well, a $200 or $300, $400

46:47

Bible is a lot. And that seems like a waste of money. However, the craftsmanship of these

46:55

Bibles, I mean, these are Bibles that are going to outlive us. These, these are Bibles that I, the way I view these are, these are

47:01

Bibles you hand down to your children and their children and their children. And we don't make books to last generations anymore.

47:10

I mean, I have in my office, I had a pastor who, when he passed away, his wife, you know, called me up and said that, you know,

47:19

Pastor Dave really wanted you to have his library. Would you want to come by and pick anything up?

47:24

And, and I, I have some books from his library that are multiple generations.

47:30

I mean, I have some books that go back to the late 1800s and they've been passed down and I could see a daughter giving it to her father because it's inscribed in there and then passed down to generation after generation of people.

47:44

We don't have books like that anymore, but these Bibles are that, I mean, these, these Bibles are designed to last.

47:52

So let's talk about the process, the type of material you use, why they're such high quality.

47:58

Yeah, well I use goat skin leather for the, for the most part and all my leather that I use has 100 years shelf life.

48:10

Like it's going to last a hundred years or longer. There's times where I will get a

48:17

Bible to rebind that's from the 1800 that was bound in goat skin leather and the goat skin is still good.

48:24

Goat skin is king of leathers when it comes to book binding.

48:31

And so, so, so we only use the best quality leather you can get.

48:37

And so each Bible, like, like if I just make a Bible and was to give it away, like I just not count on the price that it would take to buy the

48:48

Bible itself. If I just was the cover, if I just make the cover and give it away,

48:54

I'm putting myself anywhere, like if it's a small Bible, $60 of leather on it.

49:01

And it just goes up from there. Like it can be up to 80, $90 worth of leather that goes onto one

49:09

Bible. So if I was to just make somebody a Bible, it's going to cost me $90 just in the leather, not counting the, the six to 10 hours it takes to make it and not counting the anywhere from 20 to a hundred dollars to pay for that Bible, the block, the actual pages.

49:30

You see what I'm saying? Yeah. And so they call it like it does cost money, but you know, these

49:37

Bibles are going to last you a hundred years. Let's just say a hundred years that, that it can be in your family, your cell phone, which costs me a thousand dollars.

49:48

Luckily, if you're lucky will last you one year, two years. This is the word of God, you know, and I'm not dogging anyone that don't want to spend that much money on it.

50:00

I get it. You know, I come from a very poor background, but I mean, you buy one

50:06

Bible and that's all you have to buy the rest of your life. If you spend 20, $30 on a

50:13

Bible every two years, like I was doing, cause I, you know, I read a lot and they break down after about two, three years, five, 10 years at most, like you're spending that much money through the course of your life.

50:28

Yeah. I've told you that I I'm contemplating sending you, you know, what was my first Bible that I had gotten a new

50:35

King James that I got when I was in college. And it's the one I have all my notes in. It's the one I, you know,

50:40

I want that to last. It's falling apart of me literally being held together by tape. I have duct tape, you know, keeping the binding and everything.

50:49

And that's something that might be nice to pass on to my kids, even though I don't use that translation anymore, but I'm, you know, that's where I want it to be something.

50:59

It's, it's more than just a Bible. It's a legacy. It's something you, you could pass on to a next generation.

51:07

And that's how I think people have to view this. It's more than just saying, well,

51:12

I want a really expensive Bible. No, it's, it's something that's going to last and we don't, people don't develop things to last anymore.

51:20

So let's talk about that, that faithful day when all of a sudden you decided you were going to make a rebind something for somebody.

51:31

And all of a sudden, James White blew up your business. What happened?

51:37

Well, before that, like before that, I would like to add that the sovereignty of God in my business, you know, cause

51:44

I've told y 'all that I've roofed houses. I've told y 'all that I was the next gangbanger. And I guess you can conclude into that what all that would take place.

51:53

Like, you know, I was, I was selling my cousins, like I was pimping my cousins and friends out for money, like women.

52:00

And I was, you know, like I was real big into women and our, our stuff like that, uh, selling drugs.

52:09

You know, this is how I was making money also. But God has used everything in my life from,

52:16

I mean, like from the way that I construct my Bible, like I'm an artist also, I could take a pencil and draw.

52:22

Yeah. So when I construct a Bible, I use everything that I've learned in roofing as construction wise to put these things together and they feel great.

52:34

You, you look at my Bibles and think, man, I mean, you hold one and you'll say this thing will last forever, but you can also look at it because of my being an artist.

52:44

And you think that is the most beautiful Bible I've ever seen. And I'm not saying that in any way to bring glory to me because with this,

52:53

I want to point into Christ because he has given me all these things. He's given me all these abilities that I have.

53:00

I could not read, but I could, you know, growing up, I could not pass the test, but I could take that test, flip it over and draw the teacher and give it to her.

53:08

Like, here you go. You know, like he give us, he give us and take it, you know what

53:13

I'm saying? And so I, whenever I, whenever I came into this business, I was taken that, you know, when

53:20

I construct my Bibles, I'd use my roofing and my artistic ability. But when I would advertise,

53:26

I would use my street way of advertising. Again, like if I would move to a neighborhood and, uh, and I was selling weed or whatever it was,

53:35

I would have to make, make people, I had to, I had to let people know what I was doing. Or if I was moving to a neighborhood and I wanted to start a gang,

53:43

I had to beat somebody up, let him know that I was bad, that he couldn't mess with me. And then the next thing, you know, my name would start spreading throughout the hood.

53:52

You see what I'm saying? Well, in that same sense, that's how what

53:58

I've gained. That's the experience I had. That's the experience I used, but this time for the glory of God.

54:06

So whenever, whenever I would, you know, that's how I would advertise. I would try to find ways to figure out a way to get my name known.

54:16

So when I would move to a neighborhood, I needed to find the loudest talking person that I could, that, that, that, that would speak about me.

54:25

And I knew I told my wife right in the beginning, I said, baby, if we can get James White, one of these

54:31

Bibles, he's going to fall in love with it. I said, as soon as he fills one of these

54:37

Bibles, I said, God is going to use James White. And she thought I was crazy. How are you going to get a

54:43

Bible in a James White's hand? James White don't even read from a physical Bible. He reads from the computer screen.

54:49

And I was like, I don't know, but we're going to, we got to figure it out. So there's a guy named Kofi. He was a good friend of mine.

54:56

Yeah. He's a good friend of mine. So I won't, you don't want to admit that out loud.

55:05

Kofi was wanting a rebound Bible. And so he had this other Bible that he was willing to give away for one.

55:12

And I was like, this is it. And I contacted him. I said, Hey man, we'll do your Bible for that one.

55:17

And I knew James White was going to see this Bible. Like I just knew it. James White, we're going to do this

55:23

Bible. James White's going to see it. He's going to want one. And that's what God's going to bless it. Like I just, uh, you know,

55:29

I just knew it, man. This is what God has given me. Right. And so I did the Bible for Kofi.

55:35

Next thing I know there's a dividing line and James White starts talking about Kofi's Bible on the dividing line.

55:41

He mentioned post -gender breast love. Man, I'm I was screaming with excitement and my daughter comes running in there.

55:49

What's happening? I said, James White's talking about our business on the dividing line. And we start butt dancing in the living room floor, like getting down.

55:57

Cause he mentioned that he was going to reach out to me and God did exactly what I, you know, it comes down to this.

56:05

I had worked, I've worked hard my whole life. And then I, you know, and I thought

56:11

I'd be rude for the rest of my life. And I come down to where I could not feed and provide for my family. But I knew this, that I belonged to God.

56:19

I belong to him. And he is my shepherd. He has taken the shepherd's hook and he brought me by revealing to me that PTSD.

56:30

Now I'm able to, to fight with words. Cause I'm not going to let anything. Listen, I'm a fighter, dude.

56:35

I'm not tapping out. I'm not going to let this disease cap me out or make me run from my pastor or make me run from my wife or, or anything.

56:44

Now that I know the problem, I was able to fight. I was able to fight.

56:49

You see what I'm saying? Like, I knew it wasn't me. I knew it wouldn't hurt. I knew it was a, a illness that was coming against me.

56:57

All right. And I, and God took his shepherd's hook and he's brought me back and I am his, he is going to provide for me.

57:03

And I just knew, I knew if I could get my Bible and James, the God was going to use James to bless me.

57:10

I just knew it, man. You can call that what you want, but that's what happened. That was my plan.

57:15

And that's what happened. Yeah. I mean, it is smart marketing, right? You know, but, but he has, he has blown up your business quite a bit.

57:22

And, uh, you know, a lot of people have, have known about your work, but it's, but it's really good work that you do.

57:28

I've, I've purchased, you know, one of your Bibles as a gift. And, uh, you know, it was something that, uh, you know, it's something to last generations.

57:39

So here's what I want to do. Um, usually we, we do our spiritual transition game just as a way to get to the gospel.

57:47

But what I'd like to do instead is I would like you to share a gospel message to folks that they, if, what is it people need to know to be a believer?

58:00

You went to a church where they just said, ah, you're in. That's not right. Can you share the gospel with folks?

58:07

Yeah. Like he comes down to, you know, God, like I even just think about right now, every hair on my body standing up.

58:18

Whenever I began to pray, first thing I think about is what Isaiah saw on the throne and what he was experiencing with the seraphims crying out and reminding each other, the seraphim is reminding another seraphim how holy, holy, holy

58:39

God is. And so that's where it starts. God is holy, holy, holy.

58:46

And we need to understand that when Adam sinned, it was as if he took a rock and cast it into the water.

58:56

And that rock of sin, that offense of sin ripples like the, uh, the, uh, the water ripples when you cast a rock into it.

59:06

But that rock of sin that he cast it out into the world has rippled down to every child that is born is now born under that sin.

59:18

We are born into Adam into his sin. Now, right after this takes place, instead of crushing and slaughtering

59:27

Adam and Eve, God reveals to us his plan through the seed of the woman that is soon to come.

59:36

And that this seed of the woman will, uh, bruise the head of the serpent while only bruising his heel.

59:46

And we read throughout the scriptures how, how, how God has, has, has sent forth his word and that his word will not return void and how grace at times appears the same time that a image of Christ would appear.

01:00:03

Well, in the New Testament, there's a new covenant that, uh, comes into play.

01:00:09

We see grace appear fully in all of its glory, grace appear through Jesus Christ.

01:00:17

And we see in the temptation of Christ that this serpent that was speaking with Eve is now trying to tempt

01:00:24

Christ in the same way. And he tells him, he says, if you bow down to me and worship me,

01:00:30

I will give you all the kingdoms that you seek. And Christ replies to him, we are to worship

01:00:35

God and God alone. Well, here comes the crucifixion where Christ is hung on the cross for my sins.

01:00:43

On that cross is where, is where mercy and wrath met for the first time.

01:00:49

And the wrath of God that I deserve because of my sin. You see that ripple of, of sin that falls upon every children.

01:00:57

We know it's true because we sin. The Bible tells us that we are born in sin and we prove that by sinning.

01:01:05

And so Christ is on that cross and the wrath of God and the mercy of God meet upon him.

01:01:11

And the wrath that he fully takes upon himself is what I should receive. And this mercy that comes from him comes to me by receiving him by faith and repentance.

01:01:25

And we find out through scripture and through the spirit of revelation that is given us through scripture as we read it, that that was the moment that the heel of the savior was bruised while crushing the serpent's head.

01:01:39

That was the moment on that cross. He took what was fully his. We find out in Matthew chapter 28, he says, go into all the people.

01:01:49

He says, all the, he said, he says, all the world has been given to me. All authority in heaven and earth is given to me.

01:01:56

Now go into all the world and make disciples and baptize them in the name of the father, son, and the Holy spirit.

01:02:01

So what we see in Luke chapter four and the temptation of Christ, the serpent telling him, bow down and worship me.

01:02:09

And I will give you all this. We see that all that was given to him when he crushed his head with his heel.

01:02:17

And so now the gospel proclamation can move forward and, and, and we can live in Christ and we can proclaim his goodness that Christ alone saves.

01:02:30

And what we need to understand is after he was put on that cross and after he was, he was put to death that, that he rose from the grave.

01:02:41

That's our hope. Him rising from the grave and him descending to be with the father.

01:02:47

And that he right now is at the right hand of the father, making intercession and prayer for those that draw near to him by faith.

01:02:52

That's our hope. Who hopes in what he cannot see. The Bible clearly lays it out.

01:02:58

Jesus Christ is God. And he proved he is who he says he was when he came forth from the grave, taking the kingdoms that belong to him, that rightfully belong to him.

01:03:11

He is the king. He's the heir of all things. And what we're called to do is to repent, turn from our sins and to put our faith in Jesus Christ and to look to him and him alone.

01:03:22

We're to be Trinitarian Christ -centered believers. I'm sorry. So you, you even sound like Paul Washer sometimes.

01:03:33

No, but I knew that would be good. You can hear the open air evangelist in you coming out.

01:03:39

But folks, if you don't know Christ, receive him today. Turn from self, turn from trust in good works, turn to Christ and live.

01:03:48

Jeffrey, I'm glad that you came on. I really wanted to have a longer time to talk to you. That's why

01:03:53

I told you we did a quick thing at G3, but I wanted a longer time to chat with you, dig into your background and to, you know, talk more about what you're doing at the

01:04:03

Bible rebinding, because that's some quality work being done there. So thank you for all that you do and how

01:04:09

God is using his ministry in your life to bless so many people. Thank you, man.

01:04:16

I hope I was open enough about my background. That's probably the openest I've ever been.

01:04:23

I need to work on it. Just like I still find myself shut down like this doors that I'm not sure to open.

01:04:31

I don't know, man, but I do want to be as open as possible because I don't want anything to defeat me, especially my past.

01:04:41

I want to be able to get in, look forward, look into Christ and not looking at what has happened as a crutch.

01:04:49

And I hope that your testimony may encourage someone listening. If you're listening and you're saying, well, my background is really rough.

01:04:56

There's been a lot there, maybe broken home, abuse, whatever it may be.

01:05:01

I hope that you're listening to Jeff and realizing God can use anything in our lives and turn us from darkness to light, from being kidnapped, to being in gangs, to being, by being doing

01:05:14

Bible rebindings. What could God do in your life? What will God do if you submit to him and not keep fighting him or be arguing that, well, my background, you know,

01:05:26

God can't use this. Sometimes we're our own worst enemy. God can do what he wants to do in your life, but sometimes we fight that.

01:05:34

So next week, I don't know what we're going to have for you for the wrap report, but I'm sure it'll be good. But check out some of the things at Striving Fraternity to let you guys know real quick, we still have a couple of spots open for the

01:05:47

Israel trip. If you want to go to Israel with Justin Peters and Striving Fraternity, we're going in March 2021.

01:05:55

Lots of time to be able to save up the money. And just remember that there's $500 deposit, but $125 of it is non -refundable.

01:06:05

The rest of it you have till November to make a final decision. It is filling up.

01:06:11

We're limiting the trip to about 50 people and we're getting close to that. So if you're going with us to Israel, make sure you go to 2021israeltrip .com.

01:06:22

That's 2021israeltrip .com to book for that.

01:06:27

So until next week, remember to strive to make today an eternal day for the glory of God.

01:06:34

And that's a wrap. This podcast is part of the Striving Fraternity ministry. For more content or to request a speaker or seminar to your church, go to strivingfraternity .org.

01:06:43

It's about to get cooler, but the savings are still hot at Ramsey Chrysler Jeep Dodge Ram.

01:06:50

Lease a new 2024 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon 4xE 4x4, just $499 per month.

01:06:56

Get a cool deal with hot savings during Jeep adventure days at Ramsey Chrysler Jeep Dodge Ram.

01:07:02

Exceptional people, exceptional deals. Call 888 -906 -6111 for details. MSRP 67820, bin

01:07:08

RW162 -870 -4839. Due at signing, excludes tax title and registration, zero security deposit, offer ends 1031 -23.

01:07:14

With Lucky Land Slots, you can get lucky just about anywhere. Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to, has anyone seen the bride and groom?

01:07:22

Sorry, sorry, we're here. We were getting lucky in the limo and we lost track of time. No, Lucky Land Casino, with cash prizes that add up quicker than a guest registry.

01:07:32

In that case, I pronounce you lucky. Play for free at luckylandslots .com.

01:07:37

Daily bonuses are waiting. No purchase necessary, void where prohibited by law. 18 plus. Terms and conditions apply.