- 1 day ago
CTP (S4E170) David Ebel Renew Restore Rebuild Reinspire
We talk with David Ebel about surviving a medically catastrophic start to life, years of pain, addiction, and suicide attempts, and the church encounter he says turned him sober and hopeful in a moment. We trace how that turning point becomes a lifelong mission built around Renew, Restore, Rebuild, and Reinspire, plus the podcast work he’s doing now to share hope stories worldwide.
• growing up in Detroit with disability, bullying, and severe chronic pain
• college pressure, nervous breakdown, depression, alcoholism, and drug use
• multiple suicide attempts and the moment he believes God protected him
• the candle shop, the graveyard drawing, and someone refusing to walk away
• arriving at church intoxicated, feeling out of place, and responding to an altar call
• making sense of salvation, forgiveness, and learning faith through community
• Renew, Restore, Rebuild, and Reinspire as a step-by-step framework for change
• church as an emergency room rather than a club, plus a critique of “churchianity”
• God Says Yes podcast, global interviews, and his memoir about resilience and faith
If you go to my website, GodSaysYespodcast.com, and you join the mailing list, you'll get a free copy of my book automatically.
SEND US FEEDBACK: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2210487/fan_mail/new
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CTP Videos: https://tinyurl.com/CTPonBITCHUTE
https://tinyurl.com/CTPgear
https://tinyurl.com/JLenardDetroitGear
AI images/videos/audio CTP uses: https://tinyurl.com/GalaxyMagicaAI
https://tinyurl.com/BookPromotionViaFiverr
- other services: https://fiverr.com/jlenarddetroit
We talk with David Ebel about surviving a medically catastrophic start to life, years of pain, addiction, and suicide attempts, and the church encounter he says turned him sober and hopeful in a moment. We trace how that turning point becomes a lifelong mission built around Renew, Restore, Rebuild, and Reinspire, plus the podcast work he’s doing now to share hope stories worldwide.
• growing up in Detroit with disability, bullying, and severe chronic pain
• college pressure, nervous breakdown, depression, alcoholism, and drug use
• multiple suicide attempts and the moment he believes God protected him
• the candle shop, the graveyard drawing, and someone refusing to walk away
• arriving at church intoxicated, feeling out of place, and responding to an altar call
• making sense of salvation, forgiveness, and learning faith through community
• Renew, Restore, Rebuild, and Reinspire as a step-by-step framework for change
• church as an emergency room rather than a club, plus a critique of “churchianity”
• God Says Yes podcast, global interviews, and his memoir about resilience and faith
If you go to my website, GodSaysYespodcast.com, and you join the mailing list, you'll get a free copy of my book automatically.
SEND US FEEDBACK: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2210487/fan_mail/new
https://tinyurl.com/SubscribeToCTP
CTP Audios: https://tinyurl.com/CTPonBuzzsprout
CTP Videos: https://tinyurl.com/CTPonBITCHUTE
https://tinyurl.com/CTPgear
https://tinyurl.com/JLenardDetroitGear
AI images/videos/audio CTP uses: https://tinyurl.com/GalaxyMagicaAI
https://tinyurl.com/BookPromotionViaFiverr
- other services: https://fiverr.com/jlenarddetroit
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Hello, welcome to another episode of Perstitutionalist Podcast.
00:06I am your host, Joseph M. Leonard.
00:10That's L-E-N-A-R-D.
00:12It looks French.
00:13It's not.
00:14It's Leonard without an O.
00:17Thank you for tuning in, as Graham Norton used to say, on his show.
00:24Let's get on with the show!
00:26Hello, everyone.
00:28This is going to be a quick cheat intro segment.
00:33I'm going to be lazy.
00:34I've got so many guest recordings built up.
00:39I'm going to get lazy and cheat on some Saturdays.
00:43I don't have to dream up a monologue topic this way.
00:47So, and I'm also not going to say what guest will be appearing because I'm going to be lazy and
00:54cheat
00:55and use this same intro several Saturdays to intro a guest show.
01:03So, as Graham Norton used to say, let's get on with the show!
01:09Surprise interview!
01:11Take care, Cop Plus.
01:15Joining me today is David Ebel or Abel?
01:21I didn't clear that up.
01:22Abel or Ebel.
01:23Either Ebel or Ebel.
01:24Both are right.
01:25Okay.
01:26Yeah.
01:26Normally, I think to clear that up before I hit record, but I didn't because I'm sensitive
01:32to names because I'm Joseph M. Leonard.
01:36It looks French.
01:38It's not Lenard.
01:40It's Leonard without an O.
01:41So, I'm sensitive to mispronunciations, and yet I forgot to clear that up with you before
01:52hitting record.
01:52No harm, no foul.
01:53Not a problem.
01:54But at any rate, we met each other through Podmatch service, and on Podmatch, your profile
02:03says, motivated to renew, restore, rebuild, and re-inspire.
02:10Sure.
02:10I like that.
02:13So, let's start with talking about that, and we'll go down whatever other rabbit holes
02:19pop out, because you're a podcaster, too.
02:22We'll make sure we give you time to talk about your podcast.
02:27And I joke with you, I don't know if you recall, because it's been a while since we first connected
02:33before.
02:34Today, finally, we're recording in August.
02:37It'll probably air in September, as I said, before hitting record.
02:42Do you call it the pirate method?
02:44Right?
02:45Arr!
02:46It's all arrs.
02:51Well, actually, I was wondering whether or not I would have a – I just had cataract
02:56surgery.
02:57Oh.
02:58And I was wondering whether I'd still have the patch on or not.
03:02And that would have been the R.
03:04Yeah.
03:05It would have been even funnier, indeed, if you were wearing the patch.
03:13It worked right.
03:14They're getting ready to do this next month, so that'll be good, even better.
03:18Oh.
03:18So you had it in both eyes, but they obviously can only do one at a time.
03:24They don't do both at once unless you're in a hospital locked in.
03:27Right, right.
03:28And that makes perfect sense.
03:31As you can see, I wear glasses, thank goodness.
03:35I probably need a new set.
03:37I'm probably not seeing all that well, even with these.
03:42But it is what it is.
03:44We make do as best we can, right?
03:48Yeah.
03:48I'm just getting used to not wearing them.
03:50But before we get into the arrs, give me your – you know, where were you born?
03:57Where were you raised?
03:59Where are you now?
04:00Significant places you may have been in between.
04:03That sort of – how much time did you spend in prison and for what?
04:09What?
04:09Not – actually, I spent a year and a half in jail, but as a chaplain.
04:15There we are.
04:16So that joke worked perfectly well to set up that line.
04:22All we needed was a rim shot, but a bump.
04:24Yeah, exactly.
04:26So let's start off.
04:30I was born dying, and they used a medical experiment at one day old to keep me alive.
04:37My sister had just died of polio, and my mom didn't handle it well.
04:42So I was the makeup baby.
04:44When they told her I was dying, she didn't handle that well, even worse.
04:47She grabbed the doctor by the shirt and says, if he dies, you die.
04:50You better fix him.
04:52I can imagine.
04:55And it got his attention.
04:56So he came back with an experiment, and she said, is he going to die without it?
05:01And his answer was, well, without it, yes.
05:04It's in Dua, stupid.
05:05So they – well, they did it.
05:07And we're from Detroit, so Blunt is the only language we understand.
05:11I'm in the Detroit area also.
05:14All right.
05:15Matter of fact, our first ministry was in the ghetto of Detroit for five and a half years,
05:18so I know that neighborhood really well.
05:22So anyhow, the medical experiment became illegal to do to humans four months after it was done to me
05:29because the side effects were that bad.
05:32Oh, my.
05:33I have 21 birth defects in my spine, legs, and feet.
05:38I picked up juvenile rheumatoid arthritis at six.
05:42And there's other side effects.
05:43There's dwarfism, sterility, and 100% guaranteed mortality by 20.
05:50Well, you outlived that at least.
05:52I'm the only one out of the experiment that lived past 20 out of the thousands it was done to.
05:57Wow.
05:58And I'm the only one to have kids out of that too.
06:01But God's not done with you yet.
06:05God hadn't even warmed up when that happened.
06:09And so – but my life was bad.
06:14I lived in severe pain.
06:15I was the smallest child in the school.
06:17Therefore, bullied more than anybody else.
06:21They kind of go hand and foot.
06:22You know, they kind of go together.
06:24And so the short of it is that by the time I got out of high school on handicap money,
06:29I went to University of Detroit.
06:31You know where that – you know about that one.
06:33And I was in theater and radio television broadcasting.
06:37They figured I could get a job sitting down.
06:41Because, you know, I can't stand for long periods of time.
06:45So – but a year and a half in, trying to pretend – I've been hiding my pain so I
06:51could be cool
06:52from the time I was in first grade.
06:56Because if – I was little, but I didn't want to be little and sickly.
07:01Because then I would have less friends.
07:03Yes.
07:03So I built up a high pain tolerance.
07:06And, you know, I would be – I'd suffer, but I would keep pushing.
07:10And – but by the time I got out of high school, I wasn't pushing.
07:13I was struggling.
07:15It was – the pain had increased tenfold.
07:18And, you know, there was no medicine involved.
07:20It was just keep pushing.
07:22And a year and a half into college, going to school full-time and working full-time
07:26so I could eat and pay for gas.
07:28College was free, but living was not.
07:31So I worked a job, and I had a nervous breakdown.
07:34I just couldn't hide the pain and keep going.
07:38I melted down.
07:39And, you know, they pulled me aside and said,
07:42Look, we've contacted the state.
07:44We've freezed your scholarship for up to ten years.
07:46Go get well.
07:48Come back.
07:49Your scholarship will be held for you.
07:51All I heard in my now depressed state was,
07:54Nobody wants you.
07:55You can't even go to school.
07:57You must be a loser.
07:58What's the use?
08:00And that began the depression that spun around for about three years.
08:04By the end of the third year, I was now an active alcoholic,
08:07fulfilling the family curse,
08:09using that to try to cope with my pain.
08:12And then I started using street drugs to deal with the guilt
08:15because now I was a seventh-generation alcoholic.
08:18I promised myself I'd never drink, and now it was owning me.
08:22And so it ended up where I was hearing voices.
08:25I now know they were demonic,
08:27but at the time I just thought they were,
08:28I didn't know where they came from.
08:30But the voices were saying,
08:31No one wants you.
08:32No one likes you.
08:33You can't get a girl.
08:34Blah, blah, blah.
08:35You might as well eat dirt and die.
08:37So eventually I tried to kill myself three times,
08:41but I overdosed.
08:44And I drove around, and God protected me from me.
08:47I couldn't get high those nights.
08:49Take a whole month's worth of tranquilizers,
08:51and you can't get high.
08:52Tell me how that works.
08:56Being protected.
08:57Yeah, I myself am a suicide attempt survivor.
09:02I attempted to overdose in 2004.
09:06Same thing.
09:07God wasn't done with me yet.
09:11So after those three,
09:12the fourth time I drove a car off a cliff
09:14at 100 miles an hour the day before Christmas
09:16into a river.
09:19But because it was frozen,
09:20there was no water in the river where I landed.
09:23I landed in mud,
09:25ripped a tree about that big around out by the roots.
09:27They towed the car out,
09:28and I drove it home going,
09:29stupid, you can't even kill yourself.
09:32So I was planning the suicide with a rifle,
09:35and I was working a second job.
09:38My daytime job,
09:39I was delivering mail for Chrysler.
09:41My nighttime job was to pay for the booze.
09:43And so I was carving candles
09:45in a hippie commune store
09:49with all kinds of little stores inside of it.
09:51But they used to call it the trading post
09:53near the Detroit Sioux.
09:56And they moved it to where I lived.
09:59And so I was the candle carver.
10:01I was making those granny candles
10:03where you carve them,
10:04and they swirl around,
10:05and they look pretty.
10:06I was making those.
10:08But my depression got so bad
10:10that when I wasn't making the orders,
10:13I was making skulls dripping blood
10:15and brains melting with pus coming out.
10:17And my hippie friends were buying them so fast,
10:19the boss loved me.
10:20I was making him more money by far
10:22than anything he'd ever seen.
10:24So, you know,
10:25but the problem was,
10:26I was crying out for help.
10:28Yeah, early goth,
10:30we would say now.
10:32Yeah.
10:33Goth before goth became a real thing.
10:36Yes, I was more like,
10:36oh my God.
10:37Yeah.
10:38Yeah.
10:40So this girl comes in,
10:42and she's going to tell me about Jesus.
10:44And I told her to hit the road.
10:46And she tried harder,
10:47and I told her to hit the road harder.
10:49Of course.
10:50And it ended up being...
10:53Thankfully,
10:53she didn't take no for an answer.
10:55Oh, she did.
10:56This was her first time to go witnessing
10:58since she became a Christian.
10:59And she was not going to give up on me.
11:02You know,
11:03her scorecard was going to have one good one on it.
11:05So she wasn't giving up.
11:07So she saw me drawing,
11:08and she wanted to know what it was.
11:10And I said,
11:10none of your business.
11:11And she said,
11:11no,
11:11I'm going to see it.
11:12You're going to show me.
11:13So I finally,
11:14to get her to stop nagging me,
11:15I showed her the picture.
11:17It was a graveyard
11:20with this big gnarly tree growing out of the ground
11:22where the hands were,
11:23the roots were like an evil hand going into the ground.
11:26The upper roots were hands holding skulls,
11:29dripping blood.
11:30And there was a graveyard full of stones
11:32with my name on every single stone
11:33and Saturday's date.
11:35And this was Tuesday.
11:37She said,
11:37well,
11:37I demand you tell me what this is.
11:39And I said,
11:39I demand you leave.
11:41And she said,
11:43you're going to tell me.
11:43I'm not leaving until you do.
11:44I went,
11:45okay,
11:46this world sucks.
11:48I can't stand the pain anymore.
11:49I've had it my whole life,
11:50and I'm done.
11:52I've tried to kill myself multiple times,
11:54and it didn't work,
11:54and I'm fed up.
11:56Saturday,
11:56I get the gun.
11:57I end this nightmare.
11:59I can't live here anymore.
12:01And she said,
12:02so on Saturday,
12:03I'm killing myself.
12:04And she said,
12:04no,
12:04you're not.
12:04You're going to church with me.
12:05Tomorrow.
12:06And I went,
12:06what?
12:07You're going to church with me tomorrow.
12:09And I said,
12:10no,
12:11I'm not.
12:12And well,
12:12she used up her three months of going to church knowledge.
12:15So she flirted me into church.
12:22Not exactly the appropriate way to get a guy to go to church.
12:26No,
12:26but,
12:27yeah.
12:28It worked.
12:29Some,
12:29sometimes you got to bend the rules a little without fully breaking them.
12:35Um,
12:36yes.
12:36that night she used rubber bands instead of walls.
12:39But,
12:40uh,
12:40the short of it is that,
12:41uh,
12:42I went home and said,
12:43Hey mom,
12:44I'm going to church with this cute girl.
12:46And she said,
12:47you're not going to like it.
12:48You don't need to go.
12:48David,
12:49you know,
12:49when I was a kid,
12:50I went to church and they were crazy people.
12:52They rolled on the floor and danced like chickens.
12:53It's one for chandeliers.
12:55You're going to be scared to death.
12:57And I said,
12:57mom,
12:58she's cute.
12:58And she said,
12:59well,
13:00you better be prepared.
13:01Well,
13:02my mom's an alcoholic.
13:03My uncle's an alcoholic.
13:04And,
13:05and so how do you,
13:06how do you prepare for things you can't handle?
13:09You start drinking.
13:10So I,
13:11I went down and took my month's worth of prescribed,
13:13uh,
13:14tranquilizers and washed them down with my emergency fifth of scotch that I had
13:18hidden.
13:20Then I started the car and drove to pick her up,
13:23drove into this little church.
13:24There used to be a one room schoolhouse parking lot.
13:28And as we pulled in the parking lot,
13:30the drugs and alcohol hit like that,
13:31like a hammer.
13:32I couldn't find neutral or park on my automatic transmission.
13:39I couldn't turn it off.
13:40So she reached over and put it in park,
13:43took my keys and,
13:44and wobbled me out of the car and wobbled me into this little church.
13:47And it,
13:48this was a one room schoolhouse converted into a little tiny church.
13:51So I come in and she brings me in.
13:54And I had an 18 inch afro.
13:57I could sit on it and it was no,
13:59no perm.
14:00It grew that way.
14:01And I was so skinny.
14:03I weighed 80 pounds.
14:06Friends later teased me that it looked like a Q-tip in the wind.
14:12So the short of it is that,
14:14uh,
14:15uh,
14:15I came in and the people looked at me and their conservative sleeves and high
14:20necks and all.
14:21Oh my God,
14:22what is that doing in our church?
14:24We have a witnessing team for things like that.
14:26We have a coffee house for hippies and he's a hippie.
14:29What is that doing in here?
14:30He doesn't belong here.
14:31What about our children?
14:33Keep it away from our children.
14:35And I'm going,
14:36Oh my,
14:36I don't belong here.
14:38I told her that.
14:39And she said,
14:39no,
14:39they don't belong here.
14:40This is a house of hope.
14:41They have.
14:43Yeah.
14:43So she wobbled me in and parked me down in a pew and I was too loaded to
14:46get up.
14:48So she got a captive audience on it because I couldn't move.
14:52And I don't remember the sermon,
14:54but I really remember at the end,
14:56he said,
14:57with every eye closed and no one looking around,
14:58if you need Jesus,
14:59raise your hand.
15:00And she heard me say,
15:01do I,
15:02don't I,
15:02I don't know what I want,
15:03but my hand went up and I didn't raise it.
15:05It just went up.
15:06And I tried to get it down for,
15:08I was afraid those mean people are going to jump me.
15:11Right.
15:12Exactly.
15:13Detroit and jumping are not,
15:14are not opposite terms.
15:17So I was pulling like this.
15:19He finally said,
15:19I see that hand brother.
15:20You can put it down.
15:21I put it down and held it down.
15:23I was like a chicken ready to hatch it,
15:25man.
15:25I was,
15:25I was just terrified.
15:27And he said,
15:28okay,
15:29now with every eye closed,
15:30if you need Jesus and you raise your hand,
15:32come on up here so I can pray for you.
15:34No one's looking.
15:35Every eye is closed.
15:36So I finally looked up and saw where he was and to his,
15:40his immediate left was the emergency exit.
15:45Oh,
15:45you thought my way out,
15:47huh?
15:47Yeah.
15:48I was sobered up enough to wobble.
15:49So I got up and walked toward that,
15:51toward him into the exit.
15:53Just as I get where the spot where I would turn,
15:55this guy's six,
15:56four to 80.
15:58This little pulpit,
15:59he clears,
16:00he jumps right over it,
16:01man.
16:01He,
16:01he clears it.
16:03And all of a sudden he's right in front of me.
16:04Can I show you something?
16:06Yeah.
16:06I just don't hit me.
16:10And he says,
16:11let me show you.
16:12And he opens up his Bible for whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord
16:15shall be saved.
16:17I said,
16:17what is that to me?
16:19I've never been to church.
16:20What is that?
16:21And he looks me in the eye and says,
16:23David,
16:23now understand nobody in the,
16:25in that building knew my name or anything about me.
16:27Not even the girl,
16:30David,
16:31God knows about your birth defects.
16:33He knows about your arthritis and how it's killing you.
16:36He knows how you have a hemorrhaging ulcer bleeding out of both ends.
16:39And he goes on and on and on with my whole story right there in front of everybody.
16:45Man,
16:45that,
16:45that was worse than any trip I'd ever been on.
16:49That was freaky.
16:50And so I went,
16:51okay,
16:51well,
16:52what do I do with that?
16:53He says,
16:54well,
16:54the altar is small.
16:55There's two people praying over here.
16:57They were converted hippies.
16:59And over here is an empty spot.
17:00Just kneel here,
17:01cry out to God.
17:02Well,
17:03it's a little Pentecostal church.
17:05So I thought you had to scream because that's what everybody was doing.
17:10I threw my hands up and said,
17:11Jesus,
17:12if you're real,
17:12I give you six months to prove yourself.
17:15If you're real,
17:16I'll serve you with all my life.
17:17And if not,
17:18I know where the gun is.
17:21And suddenly I was sober.
17:24Sober,
17:25like the first day of my life,
17:26sober.
17:27I hadn't been sober in almost four years.
17:32And then I felt this feeling of love and peace and hope.
17:35I felt like I belonged.
17:37I felt like I didn't have to perform or suck it up anymore.
17:40I was okay just the way I was.
17:42I felt like I belonged for the first time in my life.
17:4620 years old and I had not a clue how to live for God.
17:51I didn't know I could live for God.
17:54So when I got done,
17:55I felt this need to apologize.
17:57So I raised up my hands and started saying,
17:59God,
17:59forgive me for this and forgive me for that.
18:01They cleared that chapel out.
18:03Like I was saying,
18:04free color or come get a kiss.
18:06They emptied that room so fast.
18:08They didn't want those kids to hear what I was saying.
18:12And when I was done,
18:13I was just,
18:13Jesus,
18:13I love you.
18:14And I kind of melted onto the floor.
18:15You know,
18:16when you run out of oomph and you just kind of,
18:19and I just kind of melted on the floor and I was going,
18:22Jesus,
18:22I love you.
18:22Jesus,
18:23I love you.
18:23Then this voice says,
18:25my son,
18:25David.
18:26Now,
18:26I still know one knows my name and I'm looking around and there's nobody,
18:29somebody near me.
18:30My son,
18:31David,
18:31I've called you with an everlasting love.
18:33And I've called you to preach my word.
18:35If you'll love my people and preach my word,
18:37I will change lives.
18:38If you will love my people and preach my word,
18:42I will change hundreds of thousands of lives.
18:45Will you love?
18:46Yes.
18:47Will you preach?
18:48If you teach me how?
18:49That was it.
18:51All of a sudden I was forgiven.
18:54I was clear minded.
18:55I felt forgiven and hopeful.
18:58And I was lost.
19:00I had no idea what to do with it.
19:01So those two converted hippies came over and said,
19:04hi,
19:04I'm Tony.
19:04I'm Gary.
19:05You belong to us.
19:06We're going to teach you how to live for God.
19:08And they spent a year investing in me.
19:10And that's when ministry began.
19:13A year later,
19:14I met my wife who was already in ministry.
19:16We married and from our first date on was all ministry.
19:19And that was May 2nd,
19:211973.
19:22So that makes me 74 on Friday.
19:28And I've done ministry together over 50 years.
19:34Actually married 52 years.
19:37Not bad for a guy supposed to be dead when he was 20.
19:40Right.
19:41Exactly.
19:42Out of which all came the epiphany of renew,
19:48restore,
19:49rebuild,
19:49and re-inspire.
19:51Exactly.
19:51If I hadn't had all that done,
19:53I wouldn't know what any of this is.
19:56And see,
19:57so when it happened to me,
19:59and I saw that other people weren't getting that,
20:03I had people teach me right away,
20:05how do you find Jesus?
20:07How can I get,
20:08if I can get renewed,
20:09how can I help them get renewed?
20:11And then from there,
20:12how do we help them find out who God,
20:15who God really is?
20:16And how can we restore that relationship to him?
20:19That God didn't create them just poof,
20:21but he created them before they were a twinkle in an eye and he custom made them from the inside
20:26out.
20:26He custom made them so they don't look the same because the outside is not the important part.
20:30That's just the house we live in.
20:31The inside part,
20:33the inside part,
20:33who we really are,
20:34he put hope and faith in.
20:36And he gave us the tools that one day we would need for a relationship with him.
20:41Then after we're born and we're raised,
20:43when we get to a place where we really need him,
20:47he already has those in place.
20:50So when we finally reach out to God and say,
20:53God,
20:54forgive me,
20:54come in my heart.
20:56He already has those tools in place to help us fulfill that dream that we would love to have one
21:02day of a better life,
21:04a peaceful life.
21:05And when all that happens and we start that new life,
21:09then as we read,
21:10we pray and we read and we have others around us who help us,
21:14then we get,
21:15we get to come to a place of rebuilding where we build ourselves now in the image of God,
21:21not the building,
21:22not the denomination.
21:25Amen.
21:26Correct.
21:27This is a non,
21:28I was born and raised Catholic,
21:30but this is a non-denominational show.
21:33Jesus never said,
21:36go forth and create a hundred different denominations and write a thousand different Bibles in my name.
21:44Humans screwed that up.
21:47Jesus never said to do that.
21:50Well,
21:51churches are man's way of trying to reach out to God.
21:54Jesus was God's guaranteed way to reach man.
21:59And when Jesus died and shed his blood,
22:01when we should have died for our sins,
22:03when you know what right is and you do the wrong thing,
22:05that's a sin.
22:06The Bible says that no sins will enter into heaven.
22:10So it used to take a lamb,
22:12an innocent lamb,
22:13and take him to the priest and he would sacrifice that innocent lamb.
22:16And that blood would hide our sins from God so we could have a relationship with God.
22:20Then man got too slick.
22:22He started,
22:24he'd pick up a baby lamb on the way to the prostitute's house,
22:27party real hard,
22:28then take the lamb to the priest and expect,
22:31you know,
22:31God forgive me for what I'm about to do kind of thing.
22:34You know,
22:35and God doesn't play that game.
22:36So he sent Jesus,
22:38who came to,
22:39he went from being God to being God and man at the same time.
22:44As man,
22:45he did the Bible.
22:45I know blood sacrifice.
22:47That's why we no,
22:49we no longer sacrifice animals.
22:52That doesn't mean the entire Old Testament was erased,
22:56though.
22:57No,
22:57no,
22:57it fulfilled.
22:59It's correct.
23:00Matthew 5,
23:0117,
23:02I came to fulfill,
23:03not erase the prophets and the prophecy and the law.
23:08Absolutely.
23:09And that's,
23:10that's what makes this,
23:11this restoring peace so amazing.
23:13That is when we,
23:14when we give our hearts to Jesus and accept that he shed his blood.
23:17And when we should have had the electric chair of the day for our sins,
23:20he was crucified.
23:22He paid our price.
23:23He shed his blood.
23:24And so our sins can be washed away.
23:26And when our sins are washed away,
23:28it's like that.
23:28The old days,
23:29blackboards in the schools,
23:31the great treat of the day was who was going to wash the,
23:34the chalk off the blackboard.
23:36When Jesus took his blood,
23:37he washed away our hearts.
23:38So there's not even a residual.
23:39It's as clean as it was.
23:41The day it was created.
23:42Your heart is pure now.
23:44Now,
23:44with you have that,
23:45God's got to fill that with something.
23:47It was filled with misery and who knows what.
23:49And now as that gets erased,
23:52he fills it with love and joy and peace and hope and promise in his word and all the beautiful
23:57things he's promised.
23:58Christ too,
24:00while we navigate this fallen world that competes against all that.
24:05Well,
24:07let me get this in steps.
24:09You're two steps ahead of me.
24:11But you're not wrong.
24:12You're just,
24:14I'm being methodical so I don't miss anything.
24:16So when we let him in and,
24:18you know,
24:19you take a half a glass of milk and you pour something else in it,
24:22you only can put in that half a glass.
24:24Because there's already something in there.
24:26The stuff that ruined us is in there.
24:29Jesus washes that out.
24:32He pasteurizes our heart,
24:33if you will.
24:34And then when he pours in all the beautiful things he's got,
24:37they go in an empty container he can fill with love and joy and peace and all the beautiful things.
24:42And when that happens,
24:43that restoration begins.
24:45Because now we can learn to live like him.
24:48We can learn to please him.
24:50We can learn how to reflect him.
24:52We can learn how to make a difference for him.
24:54And all those things,
24:55as we restore those things,
24:57re-inspire us.
25:00So now we want to be like Jesus.
25:02Now we want others to be like Jesus.
25:04And as God lovingly reaches us,
25:07we want to lovingly reach other people.
25:09God didn't put us in a headlock to come find Jesus.
25:12He did it gently as a gentleman.
25:14And that's how,
25:15as we share Jesus,
25:16it's a loving thing.
25:18It's not a shoving thing.
25:20And you're right,
25:20it's not about the buildings.
25:22And it's not about all these other things.
25:24Those are things,
25:25those are man's attempts.
25:27Yeah.
25:27It's like Dennis Quaid,
25:30I'm slightly jealous of,
25:32came up with the term before I did.
25:35Churchianity,
25:36where people are in love with
25:39and worshiping the building with the steeple,
25:43and they're really church of woke,
25:46church of humanity now,
25:49right?
25:49Rather than churches of Christ,
25:52many of them,
25:53not all,
25:55you've got to find a good church
25:57that's really a church of Christ,
26:00not one dressed up as a humanist club.
26:04Well,
26:05the thing is that church was never meant to be a club.
26:08Actually,
26:09church was designed,
26:10in God's inception,
26:12being in the body of believers
26:13is the emergency room of the body of Christ.
26:15We come there all beat up
26:17and kicking and screaming.
26:19And through the love of God
26:20and the love of believers
26:22who are already healthy,
26:23they help that person get healthy,
26:25to become new,
26:27to become restored.
26:28And so when we look at it that way,
26:31the church is the ER of the body of Christ.
26:35We are there to have those steps
26:38so that we can be renewed and inspired.
26:41And when that happens,
26:43we learn to pray at church.
26:45We learn to read our Bible
26:47with our church friends
26:48who know how to do it.
26:49We learn how to do all the other pieces
26:51by being around other people
26:53and God's word,
26:54between God's word,
26:55which is our love letter to us,
26:57and the people he surrounds us with
27:00who already have experienced
27:02what we now know and want.
27:03We all help each other grow
27:05to become mature,
27:06to become solid,
27:08to become real,
27:09and to have joyful lives.
27:10I think you'll like this.
27:14It upsets some Christians,
27:16but it shouldn't.
27:18The Bible is a Dr. Seuss book.
27:21We are all just children.
27:24Even 2,000 years after Christ,
27:27with all these things we've developed,
27:30we are still but children to God.
27:33It's a Dr. Seuss book.
27:35God doesn't owe us every answer
27:38and didn't give us every answer.
27:40It's human hubris
27:42that we demand of God
27:45give us the answer.
27:47Well, some things are above a pay grade,
27:49and he doesn't owe us those answers.
27:53Well, yeah.
27:54If you take a thimble
27:55and put your finger in it,
27:56there's not much room for an ocean.
27:58And we're taking an ocean of knowledge
28:00and we're trying to put it in our head,
28:01which is not much spiritually bigger
28:03than a thimble.
28:04We can't get all of God
28:05into our understanding.
28:07It just doesn't fit.
28:09Correct.
28:09So that's what faith is.
28:11Faith is accepting
28:12what we don't yet know,
28:13what we haven't yet felt,
28:15what we haven't smelled
28:16or touched or felt yet,
28:17but we know he promised it.
28:19And based on his track record
28:20of never failing,
28:22always healing,
28:23always restoring,
28:24always renewing,
28:25always rebuilding,
28:26we can trust him
28:28for what we don't get yet.
28:30It's like the three-year-old
28:31that, you know,
28:32he thinks he knows everything.
28:34He sees the ice cream truck.
28:35Oh, daddy, got an ice cream,
28:37got an ice cream.
28:38And he starts running
28:39for the streets
28:39of the ice cream truck
28:40and dad sees
28:41that there's a bus coming.
28:44So dad grabs
28:45the little three-year-old
28:45by the collar
28:46and says,
28:46nope, you're not going.
28:48Big fit.
28:49Want, want, want, want, want, want, want.
28:51And dad says,
28:52no, we have ice cream
28:53in the fridge.
28:53I don't hear you.
28:54I want ice cream.
28:57That's the heavenly father
28:58taking care of his heavenly kid.
29:01He prevents us
29:03from doing things
29:04that are going to hurt us
29:05or destroy us
29:06by leading us
29:07and guiding us
29:08and restoring us
29:09and renewing us.
29:10What we want
29:11isn't necessarily
29:12what we need.
29:13It's just what we want
29:14right now.
29:16And as we put our trust
29:17in God,
29:19when you first start out,
29:21you know,
29:21it seems a little crazy
29:22because it's new.
29:23But a lot of the things
29:25that I've learned
29:26in my life
29:26that are amazing
29:27started out being
29:28mind-blowing
29:29and very strange to me.
29:31And now,
29:32they're my favorite things.
29:33It's just because
29:34I didn't know
29:35anything else.
29:37And sometimes,
29:38we just have to get
29:39to know someone.
29:40If you meet somebody
29:41that's someone else's friend
29:43and you look at him
29:45and go,
29:45I don't know if I want
29:46to like that person
29:46or not.
29:47They look a little strange
29:48to me.
29:49You know,
29:50do I really need him
29:51for a friend?
29:53And then you find out
29:54that he's kind
29:56and he's got a good heart
29:57and he really is good
29:59to his friends
29:59and he's faithful
30:00and he's loyal
30:01as a friend.
30:02You can't wait
30:03to get to know him
30:04because if he's been good
30:06to everybody else
30:06that way,
30:07I want some of that.
30:08Don't you?
30:10Show me your friends.
30:11I'll show you
30:12your future.
30:14All my life
30:15and living series
30:16of books
30:16are about
30:18Carpe Diem,
30:19seize the day.
30:20Are you out trying,
30:23at least trying
30:24to sow good
30:25and make this fallen world
30:27a better place?
30:28Well,
30:29we're singing
30:29the same song,
30:30brother.
30:32So that's what
30:34all this
30:35renewing,
30:35restoring,
30:36rebuilding
30:36and re-inspiring
30:37is.
30:38It's my way
30:40of taking
30:41the timeline
30:41from absolutely lost
30:44and no place to go
30:45and not expecting
30:47to ever get out
30:48of the mud
30:48from being stuck
30:50and ending up
30:51in something
30:52that is so re-inspired
30:53that I can't wait
30:54to reach more people
30:55with the love of God.
30:58And in the process,
31:00God was right.
31:02I've traveled 49 states
31:03and 20 countries.
31:05I've told my story
31:06all over the world.
31:08You know,
31:08I've told my story
31:09on television
31:09and radio,
31:10you know,
31:11in books
31:11and magazines.
31:12And you know what that means?
31:13That means God is good
31:14and I'm a good PR guy
31:16for him.
31:19I'm not good.
31:20I just work
31:20for the guy
31:21who is.
31:23Anything that good
31:24you find in me
31:24is the stuff he's done.
31:26Anything you don't like
31:27about me,
31:28that's what he's still
31:28working on.
31:30Amen.
31:30I hear you.
31:31Now,
31:32I hate to do this,
31:33but storm is rolling
31:35and the satellite
31:36has already gone out.
31:38I'm worried about
31:39losing the internet.
31:40So let's move
31:42to the part
31:43of your ministry
31:44online through
31:45your podcast.
31:47Tell us about that.
31:49Absolutely.
31:50The name of the podcast
31:51is God Says Yes.
31:54And those viewing
31:56behind the scene video
31:57can see that
31:59on screen
32:00there with you.
32:01Okay.
32:02So it's God Says Yes
32:03and the website
32:05that hosts it
32:06is GodSaysYesPodcast.com.
32:09So GodSaysYesPodcast.com
32:12is where you can see
32:13over 50 interviews
32:15right now
32:16and growing every week.
32:17We release
32:18two to four a week.
32:20And those are people
32:21we've interviewed
32:22from all over the world
32:23about who they were
32:24before Jesus,
32:25what happened
32:26when they met him,
32:26how did it change
32:27their life,
32:28and what hope
32:29can that give
32:29to somebody struggling.
32:31So there's not
32:32one opinion.
32:33It's right now
32:34over 50 opinions
32:35of 50 different experiences
32:37of people from
32:38all different walks
32:39of life.
32:39They're from
32:40all different countries
32:41and God has just
32:42changed their lives
32:43and he'll change theirs.
32:44It all came from
32:45I wrote a book
32:47which was called
32:48When the Doctors
32:49Say No,
32:50God Says Yes.
32:53And that's the story
32:54of my life,
32:55my memoir,
32:55from the birth defects
32:57all the way to
32:58reaching people
32:59all over the world.
33:00It's all in one book,
33:01easy to find.
33:03And I'll let you,
33:04the viewers,
33:05in on a secret.
33:06If you go to
33:07my website,
33:11GodSaysYesPodcast.com
33:12and you join
33:13the mailing list,
33:14you'll get a free
33:14copy of my book
33:16automatically.
33:19So you can save,
33:20you can save the money
33:21off of Amazon
33:22and read it for free
33:23unless you like paper ones
33:25and then you have
33:25to go to Amazon
33:26or get the paper ones.
33:28But if you,
33:29if a digital one will do,
33:30you can get that for free
33:31just by joining
33:32the mailing list.
33:33That's the beauty
33:34of digital,
33:35yes.
33:36That's for sure.
33:38All right.
33:38What other questions
33:39do you have?
33:39Well,
33:40I'm starting to experience
33:42audio issues already,
33:44so I'm worried
33:45if we don't end,
33:47it's going to be
33:48ended for us
33:49because we know
33:50the great deceiver
33:53doesn't want
33:54these conversations
33:55to happen.
33:56Well,
33:57we can always come back
33:58for more later on.
33:59Yeah.
34:00My usual ending question
34:02would be
34:03where do people
34:04find you?
34:05And we've established
34:06that.
34:08GodSaysYesPodcast.com
34:10So thank you,
34:11David,
34:12for coming on
34:12and sharing your story.
34:14It was wonderful
34:16to have you here.
34:17It was an honor
34:18to be here.
34:20Take care.
34:21God bless.
34:22God bless.
34:23God bless.
34:36God bless.
34:37God bless.
34:43Forging a better world,
34:45a Christian way
34:47leads us to a better day.
34:50Got a Bible on the table,
34:53steel sparks on the floor,
34:56hammer ringing in the distance
34:59While your words cut to my core
35:01You're sanding down my pride
35:05Filing on my fear
35:08In the fire of your kindness
35:11What was dull is turning clear
35:15Iron sharpens iron
35:19Lord, so sharpen me
35:22Rub my rough edges
35:25Till your reflection's all I see
35:28If we carry one another
35:31You will light the narrow way
35:34Iron sharpens iron
35:37And you're forging a better day
35:42Every honest conversation
35:44Every wound we choose to show
35:47Is a grindstone for our spirits
35:51Making mercy start to glow
35:53When I call my brother higher
35:57He pulls me higher too
36:00Under pressure, under promise
36:03We're becoming more like you
36:08Iron sharpens iron
36:11Lord, so sharpen me
36:14Rub my rough edges
36:17Till your reflection's all I see
36:20If we carry one another
36:23You will light the narrow way
36:26Iron sharpens iron
36:29And you're forging a better day
36:34Strike by strike
36:37Word by word
36:40Word by word
36:40You're remaking
36:42You're remaking
36:43Hearts of stone
36:46Grace by grace
36:49Heard by healed
36:52Heard
36:53We don't have to stand alone
37:00Iron sharpens iron
37:03Iron sharpens iron
37:04Lord, so sharpen me
37:06Rub my rough edges
37:09Till your reflection's all I see
37:12If we carry one another
37:15You will light the narrow way
37:18Iron sharpens iron
37:22You're forging a better day
37:27You're forging a better day
37:46Like and subscribe
37:49To Christitutionalist Politics Podcast
37:52And share episodes
37:54We need your help
37:56Thank you for having tuned into
37:59Another Christitutionalist Podcast Show
38:03I really appreciate that you stopped by
38:07Again, please like, share, subscribe
38:11We need you to help spread
38:14The Christitutionalist Movement
38:16Thank you again
38:18Take care
38:19God bless
38:20Love you all
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