EP#60: From Prison to Pastor: The Redemption of Chuck Chavis

In this week's episode, Pastor Chuck Chavis shares his inspiring journey from addiction and incarceration to founding Lifeline Ministries, highlighting the transformative power of Jesus Christ and the importance of hope and faith in overcoming life's darkest moments.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:10

Have you ever experienced a God wink? You know. The kind of experience you know without a shadow of a doubt that God stepped in and gave you a big old wink from heaven. I'm your host, Cindy Sparr, broadcasting from Office Evolution in Troy, Michigan. I am a firm believer that there is power in sharing God wink stories. Think of it as a way for people to shine their light on Jesus one wink at a time. In Matthew 5, 14, it says, You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others so that they may see your good works and give glory to your father who is in heaven. Welcome back, listeners to the Godwink Podcast. My name is Cindy Sparr, your host, and I'm so excited to have you guys listen in on our series that we've been doing with individuals with addictions, and especially with today, someone who became a part of a lifeline. Right? I have asked Pastor Chuck to be on with me today. I was actually referred um to Pastor Chuck from my mama. So my uh my mom, she is an avid listener of the Godwing podcast. She's actually my little editor. She listens to the raw footage before our episodes go out. Um she's like, Cindy, Cindy, I I think I've got a good one. And if it's not good, just let me know. But I think it's a good one. And she she says, uh he's he's down here in Alabama, and man, does he have a story? So uh thanks, mom, for always having my back first off of um looking for people to share their story. Um, but I want to welcome Pastor Chuck to the Godwink.

SPEAKER_02 2:14

Hey, how are you? Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 2:17

Good, good. So, you know, you've got the the great Southern draw and I've got the nasally Michigan.

SPEAKER_02 2:23

Well, I'm back to thinking about it. I was like, I can tell that she's from Michigan. And uh I guess I didn't take it that you could probably tell I'm I'm live in Alabama.

SPEAKER_00 2:32

Yeah, I know. Just I just feel so relaxed. Anyone with a southern draw, I just immediately feel relaxed. I'm like, take me to the south, please. Take me to the south. Yes, ma'am. But um just just to share with our listeners a little bit about you, Pastor Chuck. Uh you are the founder of Lifeline Ministries in Fair Hope, Alabama, uh, which is a ministry that's dedicated uh to helping people find freedom from addiction, brokenness, and hopelessness through Jesus Christ. Uh, after spending many years trapped in drug and alcohol addiction, in and out of jail and prison as a young man, uh, you've experienced a life-changing transformation through the power of the gospel. Amen. Out of that testimony, he developed the Lifeline to Freedom book series and recovery curriculum to help others build a real relationship with God and experience lasting freedom. Today he pastors Lifeline Church and leads outreach programs that provide free meals, clothing, recovery classes, and jail ministry throughout Baldwin County. Oh my goodness, quite the resume through Jesus Christ. Well it's it's it's such a beautiful thing. Um reading, and I see here how you said hopelessness, right? Like you are helping to give freedom for people that feel hopeless. And here you live in fair hope. How fitting.

SPEAKER_02 4:01

Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, I actually did a post one time and I said there's hope in fair hope.

SPEAKER_00 4:07

Oh that's good. Might as well ride that wave. It makes total sense. Well, you know, Pastor Chuck, you had shared with me um about your history, and I even shared with you notes that I had taken while you were talking, and it was almost like those moments you ever you guys listeners ever have those moments where the Holy Spirit is speaking and like you just can't keep up. And I'm gonna show you guys my screen. I as as Pastor Chuck was speaking, I'm like, my goodness, does that have a story? I'm like, it's insane the amount of redemption that the Lord had done in your life. Um, if we look back many, many years to where you are now, it's almost like beauty for ashes, but I'm not gonna tell the story, you're gonna tell the story. Uh, take us back to the beginning.

SPEAKER_02 5:02

Okay, absolutely. And first, thank you for having me. Uh, it's an honor to be here. And anytime I get to speak, and and anytime people ask me to share my story or share uh about the church or the ministry or anything that we're doing, um, it it's it's it's a conviction of mine. I I want people to know that my my full intent is to give all the glory and all the praise to Jesus Christ. And so um I'm a nobody and uh he is everything. And so I definitely want to deflect anything that's going on good in my life and uh and credit it all to the glory of Jesus Christ. And so um, as you mentioned, I'm the pastor of Lifeline Church and Ministries. We're located here in Fairhope, Alabama, and uh uh I'm married, I have four kids, and I've I've I've authored now five books. I'm actually in the uh I'm in the process of writing another book uh titled Why Do People Drink and Do Drugs According to the Scriptures? And so uh just to kind of take you back to to a little bit of my story, uh I'm originally from Pensacola, Florida. Uh I grew up there. Um uh I I didn't I didn't know my dad growing up. Um and so my my legal name is Charles Edward Chavez III. And so uh named after my biological dad, but but never knew my biological dad. And so um I at a very young age, just as a uh kid, I I wasn't necessarily raised uh in a total church environment. I wasn't uh necessarily raised uh around there was times where the word of God might have been around in my life, but it wasn't it wasn't a total, I didn't have a Christian raising in that sense. And so uh by the time I was in kindergarten, uh I I started out just a very, very bad kid. Um I I was rebellious, uh, I didn't like authority, um, I was angry. Uh looking back, I was I was a bitter kid. And so uh I always tell people that, you know, even even starting off in my younger years, right in kindergarten, uh, little joke, I always always thought that my name was Chuck and my last name was Chuck, Chuck, Chuck. And the reason why I thought that is because my name was always on the chalkboard in in elementary school for getting in trouble and there was checks coming after it. And uh and so another thing that you know, just growing up in in my elementary school time frame, uh, I always wondered why when you would go to a class that your your desk was always next to the teacher. You never got to sit in the in the classroom setting. And so just a uh a what I would call a very rebellious child growing up. Um by the time I was in in fourth grade, I was actually suspended from elementary school. And uh there was just something in me. I didn't like rules, I didn't like authority. Um, I didn't want to have anything to do with structure or boundaries. Um, and in a lot of ways, looking back, I I was I was searching, I was seeking, I was looking for joy, I was looking for peace, I was looking for acceptance, I was looking to be be accepted somehow and where I fed into life. And and I and I could never find that. And um, and so I I really didn't even know growing up that that we were poor uh until you actually get into school, and then you find out that all the other kids had the the new clothes, the new shoes, and uh and and and you didn't. You were getting the hand-me-downs from the cousins and the the the family members and things like that. And so um these things affect your mind as a as a young child. Uh by the time that I was uh in sixth grade, uh, my mom, she was trying to do anything she could to help me. And uh I know that I know that that was her intent was to she wanted her children to be successful. And uh, and so she she put me in a in a in a private school for sixth grade. That's when we transitioned to what they call middle school down here. I don't know if it's the same in Michigan, and uh, and it wasn't but probably three months, and I was expelled from that that uh private school. And so from the time of being expelled in sixth grade and then being transitioned over to public school, I think it was literally my second day in public school. I was suspended from school for 10 days, and uh just fighting, just being disrespectful to teachers. Um like I said, I was I was a very rebellious kid. Um, I was a very angry kid. And uh, and so I went through that process uh quite a bit in my very younger years. And so I'd I'd come back to school and they would suspend me again. And so I went through, I think, 30 days of being suspended back to back, 10 days, come back to get 10 more days, come back. And so by the time I was in seventh grade, they said that there was no longer, I could no longer be in a public school setting, and uh that I was, I guess, too disruptive. And um I was just again rebellious, and so uh they started to classify me as a special needs child, and and they recommended me to get put in outside of a public school setting where basically troubled kids would go to. And so that's exactly what happened to me. By the time that I was 18 uh in eighth grade, um, I ended up being put in a troubled kids separate classrooms for my eighth grade year. And I always tell people, I say, you know, that probably wasn't the best thing for me. Um, you take somebody that is already a troubled kid and that already has a rebellious problem, and then you put him around everybody else that's rebellious and a troubled kid. You don't have many people to choose from to be friends, yeah. And so that becomes that becomes your crowd, that becomes uh your your classmates. And so there was really a big segregation in our middle school in that sense of you know, you had the bad kids class side, and then you had the public school kids side. And so uh that was my my my my elementary school and my my middle school journey. And so um I probably at age 13 was when I was in eighth grade. And um I just remember I lived a very hopeless life. I lived a very uh empty life. Um, and I always will say this when I talk to people is I was looking for joy, I I was looking for peace. Um, I was I was hunting for acceptance, but I I couldn't find it. I couldn't find it anywhere. And uh and I was I was a bitter kid. Uh I was I was very angry at life. And so I remember in eighth grade, uh I was I was riding my bicycle around a trailer park in our neighborhood, and and I heard a some music playing, and all the older kids, and they were in this trailer park, and I went over there and uh and they invited me in. And and I thought it was really cool. They had loud music playing. Uh, they had they were drinking beer, they were smoking cigarettes, and I was identifying with that crowd, even though I hadn't done any of that at that age yet, um, because they were rebellious and I was rebellious, so we all fit in. And and so uh that was my first time, I think, that I tried to smoke cigarettes. I was 13 years old, and I always tell people, I say, you know, uh any I hope that, of course, we hope that nobody smokes cigarettes, but the first time I ever smoked cigarettes, that was the nastiest thing I had ever put in my mouth. It's not an acquired taste. I did not have an acquired taste. And so I remember actually getting dizzy and wanting to throw up, uh, but this is what everybody was doing there. And so it's amazing to me that even though we we feel sick from what we're putting into our bodies, we still are willing to go forward and and learn how to keep putting that into our bodies because this is the crowd that that were smiling at me. This is the crowd that was loving on me. This is the crowd that I felt comfortable with. And so I tried my best to fit in. And uh, of course, from that phase, you start playing with alcohol, you you you take your first sip of beer, and uh, and then from that, you're starting to smoke marijuana, and uh, and then that you're going to liquor, and then you're going to all the party drugs and things like that. And so um, by the time I was uh freshman in high school, um uh I ended up I ended up cat catching 24 felonies as a juvenile. I was 14, 15 years old, and uh I got connected with I always say this too. I say, you know, I always I used to say this in my testimony that that you know I hooked up with the wrong crowd or I hooked up with the bad crowd, but in reality, I was that wrong crowd. I was that bad crowd. I was I was the one that was uh provoking people to rebel or to do wrong. Um, and so I take full responsibility for for my actions and and what I had did. Um, but I got connected with some friends and uh started stealing car radios, and and it was a big car radio uh theft ring. Um and I did not break into 24 cars, but because I was in that theft ring um and I was caught going out one night, I got charged with all 24 felonies. And so um here I am 14, 15 years old, and I'm being arrested for these felonies. And so this is my first time going to juvenile detention center. Still a uh a very rebellious kid. Um hated being incarcerated in a in a holding tank, um, but you're still you're still defiant, you're still beating on the doors, you're still uh showing that you don't care. And you know, I always say this too, that that those that are screaming the loudest that they don't care are actually screaming the loudest that they do care. And uh and that's the way we answer, you know, what's going on in our private world. And so I got out of the juvenile detention center and went back to school. And then what happened, because it was 24 felonies, as the new charges would come, the police department would show up to class and arrest me in front of my high school peers. And so this was creating my identity, this was creating my reputation, and uh, and and so my freshman year, I was actually kicked out of public school and I was put into this uh separate school. I think it was like this is many years ago. I'm 47 now. So um it was it was called Private Industry Council. It was like a pick program, it was off campus, it had its own campus, but this is where all the bad kids that that just would not uh be obedient in class or disruptive, they went. And so that became my school. And uh started connecting with obviously wrong crowds and got into gang fighting with them. Uh, you you you you have little neighborhood clicks and you start being a part of that. And so this was my freshman year, um, 24 felonies. And then what happened was through that that time, I ended up getting sentenced to a uh a juvenile boot camp when I was 15 years old. And uh it was very strange how they sentenced me because I got sentenced in court, but because they were waiting for a bed for me to go, they let me go back to my parents' house and uh and wait for that bed to come available. And I'll probably never forget you know, that phone call that came to my parents' house uh when it was time for them to bring me to jail. Um, here I was, I mean, uh a child, a 15-year-old child, and I knew that I was being transported hours away from my house. And I just remember sitting in the room looking out the the window, and life just was not turning out the way that you wanted it to be. But because because you're putting on this this persona that you don't care and you're trying to you're trying to display yourself as a as a tough person, you know, you're you're hiding your emotions, you know I had a ball zone. I didn't want to let nobody in my heart. Because ultimately my heart was hurting and I didn't know how to address it, and I didn't know how to face it. And uh I just remember I was taken to the juvenile detention center, and uh and I remember them putting handcuffs and shackles on me for the first time, and as a 15-year-old kid, and your belly chained, and you just you seen this on movies, but now you're you're living that movie, and uh, and so I get I I get driven about three hours down from where we were at and taken to this this boot camp. And so this was my first time of of being like really incarcerated, and uh uh I was still rebellious, I was defiant, I wasn't gonna have anything to do with rules, I didn't care about anybody. Um, and and that was my intro to this this program. But I learned quickly that if I didn't, if I did not graduate this program, that they had the authority to extend my sentence. Well, I didn't want to stay in there any longer than what I had to, so that made me transition a little bit to want to to obey the rules and get out there. And so I remember one day sitting in the in the it was one man's cells, and they came to us and they said, church time, if you want to come to church, come out your your rooms and and go to church. And so obviously you can't make people go to church. So um that was the only thing I had authority over, I guess, left in my life. So I was like, I'm not going to church. And uh, and I don't want to have nothing to do with it. And so little did I know that where they were actually going to have church happened to be in our dorm room, and it was right outside my actual cell door. And so even though I didn't want to go to church, church kind of came to me. And uh I remember sitting in that room, and I was sitting on my, they had these footlockers in this one-man cell, and I remember sitting there, I don't remember anything they talked about or any of the messages or the preaching and things like that. Um, I just remember that they they they sang it, they sang a song and it was titled Um Pass Me Not, Old General Savior. Hear my humble cry. And and you gotta understand, somebody that doesn't come necessarily from that background, we don't know what that song's talking about. So in my mind, I was thinking, Pass me not, old gentle savior, hear my humble cry. I related it that that's exactly what's happened to me is God had passed me by and wanted nothing to do me, do with me. And so um, I don't I don't know the emotions that I went through hearing that. I just know that it impacted me and it made me uh uh it just made me think about the Lord a little bit, I guess. And and you know, I I guess looking back at my life too, I was never uh I was never I would never have classified myself as an evolutionist. I would have never classified myself as an atheist. There was something in me that I just I always believed in the existence of God. I just I just think that I just thought that he was he was too big for me or or too interested in other people's lives. And and that's the way I kind of viewed God. And so, long story short, I get out of this uh This juvenile boot camp. And uh I started to do actually, I started to excel while I was there. And uh, but I get out, and because that I I'm not saved, I'm not a Christian, I don't know Jesus Christ, I don't, I haven't accepted the gospel, I don't know none of these things. Even though outwardly I'm trying to be obedient and trying to perform and and do all the things that life is saying that you have to do in order to be successful, I found myself almost desiring that, but also feeling wrapped in change, like like I couldn't, I couldn't do it. Um, I was literally in bondage. And so I get out of juvenile detention center, and probably within six months, I'm arrested again. Um uh in our hometown, I connected with the same crowd, went back doing the same things that we were doing. And obviously, you had little neighborhood cliques and neighborhood gangs, and and and we would retaliate and fight each other and things like that. And so ended up going to jail almost immediately of getting out this boot count. And then by the time 17, you're by the time I was 17 is when I started to to 16, 17 started to experience harder drugs. I started to experience crystal meth, uh, ecstasy, uh acid, all these different things, anything that would come to the table. I didn't know anything about drugs, but uh if it would make me feel good and if it made me happy, that's what why I would do it. And uh, and that's why that's why I would drink and do drugs, is because I I didn't have peace. Um, I didn't have joy. Uh, I wasn't free. I didn't know how to express myself, I didn't know how to be a person. And so um by the time I was 17 years old, we were actually strung out on drugs for a couple days, and I ended up going to we ended up driving to New Orleans uh on bourbon street um uh at age 17, and I ended up getting arrested in New Orleans on Bourbon Street, and so looking back, you you would think, you know, how in the world could anybody go to jail on Bourbon Street? Because that's Bourbon Street, you know? Right. And so I was probably just as in shock as everybody else. How am I going to jail? And so at 17 years old, I ended up getting put into New Orleans Parish Prison. And I'm only 17. Now, this is this is an adult prison, and at that time they were murder capital one of the United States of America, and so you know, honestly, I didn't know if I was coming out alive or not. And uh, but I was there, I ended up finally getting bonded out of the jail, praise the Lord. And uh those charges got dismissed. But by the time I turned 18, I was just wild. I was just out of control. Um, I mean, it was my life was like a snowball, and uh, and it just going downhill. And and just as the faster it got going and the larger that snowball would become, the momentum of my life, I was just literally out of control. And uh so ended up being arrested um when I was 18 years old. Uh I I was arrested for 14 felonies as an adult. And so here I am in jail. I'm I'm I'm in a Scambia County jail in Pensacola, Florida. And uh I I was I was fighting the case. It it was I was in there for almost a year and I still hadn't been sentenced. And I remember making a phone call to my house. My stepdad answered the phone and I said, you know, I'd like is is mom there, I'd like to talk to mom. And here I am, and he says, he says, he says, Chuck, he says, your mom's not here. She's driven to Mississippi. And so my sister was actually going to college in Mississippi at that time, but that was not normal to hear. I was like, why is my mom driving to Mississippi? I have, I mean, this is what's going on. And it didn't make sense that my stepdad was at home either. So I asked him and I said, I said, what's what's going on? They said, and he said, Chuck, he says, your your lawyer called today, and um you're getting 20 years in prison. And uh, and this was a paid attorney. This is not a public defender. And so um, and what it came back to was I was getting two 10-year sentences, but they wouldn't even run them concurrent. They were going to run them consecutively, which meant you were gonna get the full full 20 years. And so here I am at at age 18, and that's the message you hear. And uh, you know, I got off the phone. I was I was a little, I was almost so shocked that that it I was numb. I didn't I didn't know how to respond to it. And uh, and so I remember going back to my cell and I was on the fourth floor, and we had count time. And I remember, you know, thinking in my head, you know, I'm 18, I'm gonna be 38 years old when I get out of prison, and I'm I'm trying to learn the ropes quickly. I want to know what to expect down there, uh, et cetera, et cetera. And uh, and I remember standing there looking out my my my cell window and and watching cars go by. I always loved to see the free world out the cell, and and I would watch cars, and I don't know why God would allow me to see this. Now you gotta understand I'm not a Christian, I don't know Jesus Christ, I don't I'm not saved or anything at this time. And uh and I'd watch like a mom and a dad and some kids in a car together driving down the road. And I remember thinking, sitting there, how bad I wanted that. How bad I wanted to be successful. I did not want to be in jail, I did not want the life that was happening to me. I was in bondage, I didn't know how to get out of this, and um and and so these were some emotions that I went through at age 18. And uh, long story short, we I was able to get another attorney and praise the Lord. I I signed six years in prison at age 18. I signed a cap, I didn't get the 20. And so at age 18, I went to state prison. And uh when you're 18 years old, you're still a young kid, and there's a lot of there's a lot of emotions going on in your heart, there's a lot of life that you don't know how to answer. There's a lot of questions, why? And and without Jesus Christ, without the gospel, we're clueless, we don't have hope. We are hopeless people. And uh I remember going down south, being going to prison, and uh they called for church, and I said, I'll go to church that time just because I wanted to get out of the dorm and see the campus that I was on. And I don't know why I did this, but I was in my first two weeks in prison. I just remember going to this altar and this church and just crying, just laying there crying. I don't know why I was crying. It I don't know what the message was about. I I didn't listen to the preacher. I was just a broken person at age 18. And uh you would think through this process of of hurt in my life or or uh the process of bad decisions and doing the wrong things, you you think that eventually you'd wake up and say, I I uh maybe I don't need to do these things. And I'm just telling you that in my heart, I didn't want to be this person. I didn't, I didn't want to, I didn't want to do the things that I was doing. I was I was looking for love, I was looking for acceptance, I was looking for fulfillment, I was looking for a purpose. Where where did I fit into life? And I and I couldn't understand it. And so I get out of prison, and within the first year of getting out of prison, I start selling drugs, and I had my door kicked in, and uh, and so I'm back into the game. And so to make the testimony not so long, I spent 15 years of my life from probably 14 to 28 years, until I was 28 years old. I was either incarcerated or I was on drugs. I hated life, I absolutely hated life. And uh I it got it brought me all the way to the point that January 2nd, 2007, uh in the state of Florida, they have what they call a Baker Act system. And what Baker Act is in the state of Florida is if you deem harmful to yourself or harmful to others, they can put you in a mental hospital. And I made the statement to the police department that if this is all that life has to offer, then I don't want to live. And so they put me in the hospital, and uh I meant it. I mean, I was hopeless. I hated life. I had I had lost everything, uh, rightfully so. Uh my mom, rightfully so, wanted nothing to do with me. My brother, my sister, uh, my girlfriend at the time. I mean, I my son uh met him when he was three years old when I get out of jail. I didn't even know what he looked like.

SPEAKER_00 31:51

Oh my goodness.

SPEAKER_02 31:54

My my oldest daughter. When she was born, I was incarcerated. I was hopeless. I had nothing. And so they let me out of jail April the second, or out of the hospital. I'm sorry, it felt like jail too, and and I had nothing. I had a pair of tennis shoes, a t-shirt on, I had no driver's license, no wallet, no money, no food. I had nothing, I just walking down the road. And I turned back around to the hospital and I was like, could I use your phone? And I called somebody to see if they'd come get me. And reluctantly they said yes, and uh came and got me and brought me to a uh a city in Alabama, Elberta, Alabama, it's just 30 minutes from Pensacola, Florida. I wouldn't expect anybody to know this little area because it is way out in the middle of nowhere, and uh and so here I am January 2nd, 2007, and I and I get to this house and I open up the door to walk in, and there's a Bible sitting on the on the coffee table. And uh and I walked over to that Bible and I saw a church bulletin sitting there, and I pulled that church bulletin out, and uh I found found a pastor's phone number on the back. And I called that preacher and I said, Look, preacher, I said, my life's a mess. I said, I don't know if God has anything to do with me, but if there's a God out there, I need help. And he said, Son, he said, stay where you're at tonight. He says, I'll be at your house tomorrow at 10:30, meet me out on the back porch. And I said, Yes, sir. And uh, I was looking at five more years in prison, I'm running from the law, my life's in a total mess. And uh he showed up and I walked outside, had a tanked up on a cigarette in my mouth. I was still this rebellious guy and representing well, yeah, just totally, yeah, so totally uh and a skeptic at the same time. I was I was so skeptic even of church people, I was so skeptic of of churches, of of anything. I didn't know I didn't know who I could trust, what I could trust. And uh and and I remember sitting there was the first time in my life that I had so much open the Bible. And he asked me to read verses that he would show me and I'd read them. And he asked me to explain what did I understand from those verses. He didn't just move on, he wanted to know that I understood it. And he said, Chuck, he said, Do you know that God will forgive you of everything, everything you've ever done? That meant something to me because I I had a baggage of a life. Here I am, 27, 28 years old. I have nothing. And you're telling me that God loves me? You're telling me that God would have something to do with me. And I I appreciate the preacher because the preacher he didn't shy away hard topics either, because there's hard topics in the word of God, and he and he did show me that that because of my sin, because of my life apart from Christ, because I didn't have Jesus Christ in my life, that that if I died through this process, the Bible does teach about a place called hell. And I wouldn't go there without Jesus Christ. And I I appreciate that that he he told me that because those are not comfortable statements to say to people, but they're biblical statements, and and I'm and I'm afraid that uh we need to get back to the the biblical sound doctrines of the word of God and present the gospel plain and clear so that people can understand it. And so here I am uh learning that God did love me, learning that there was hope. And January 3rd, 2007, on this back porch, I bowed my head and I accepted Jesus Christ as my savior.

SPEAKER_00 36:14

Hallelujah. I and I have to say, Pastor, is when I see and our listeners can hear the quiver of your voice is that's when you know that God has come in and totally done a transformation because he takes this heart of stone, this young man that's like, I'm fine, I don't need anybody, even though you know in the inside that there's brokenness, but this hardness, and he turns you into uh someone that is sensitive to the Holy Spirit. I just I I I love I love how the Lord does that. It's not nowadays they think of oh men have to be strong and like you know, you never shed a tear, you never never show a moment of weakness, and it's not even a moment of weakness. It's people are able to identify with you because of of your essence of rawness, of of real, of not having to always be this like strong and hard person.

SPEAKER_02 37:17

Yeah, for sure. And it is real to me. You're absolutely correct. And while you were saying that, I was like the shortest verse in the Bible is Jesus wept. And so it's it's a godly thing, and it's it's okay. And you know the truth, yeah. I remember that day because for the first time in my life, I I remember two things. I remember love. Love for the I felt loved. I felt that love, and and it was a love that I had never felt before. And I also felt hope. I I felt like there's hope for my life. There's there's God, I have God now that that that I can I can be a changed life now. And so I just I remember those those two things, and that's why a lot of times my one of my favorite quotes is is there is hope when things seem hopeless. And uh and and and I'm I'm so thankful for the gospel of Jesus Christ. And uh so so you're absolutely right, it means the world to me. Um and I'm so I'm so grateful for that. And um uh I don't I I guess going into the continuing down the road of the the story after that, um you you gotta understand, you know, here I am a saved man. I accepted Jesus Christ as my savior, and and I was still running from the law. Uh, I was still uh I had violation of probation. Um, I had violated five years of state probation, felony probation, caught another felony, and had dirty urine. I mean, I was just in a mess at this time, and uh, and I was going back in front of the same judge that sentenced me when I was 18 years old. And so things were not looking good for me. But when I when I got saved, I knew it was time to get everything right, uh whatever it took. And so I actually turned myself into jail that year, and uh and it was it was there sitting in jail. Um, that same preacher that led me to Christ, he mailed me a Bible. And uh, and so I'm sitting in the bunk and and and he mails me the a Bible, and I get it, and and I'm sitting there, and I remember hearing this, yeah, you're a young Christian, you know, you got to read your Bible, get into the Word of God, you know, read the Bible. And yeah, I've even heard that as a lost man. The Bible's the answer, you know. And well, I have nothing else better to do, right? I'm incarcerated. So I was like, you know what? I'm gonna read the word of God. I want to get to know God. I want to, I want to understand what, see if I can understand the Bible. And and so here I am uh waiting for sentencing, and I'm I'm reading the word of God, and it was literally sitting in that jail that God was transforming my life by the power of the word of God. I'm just telling you, the word of God was changing me. I wasn't changing myself. Um, I I would read it and I would, I would, I would find peace, I would find joy, I would find happiness. I'm incarcerated. None of this is making sense.

SPEAKER_00 40:30

But do any of your inmates even listen? Like, do you talk to them and they're like, dude, chill.

SPEAKER_02 40:35

Like, well, actually, the first person ever led to Christ was another inmate. Oh, and uh, so it was it was it was very, very, it was just an amazing transformation that was going on because honestly, the first the most free I had ever felt in my entire life, I was actually incarcerated. And so I went from being concerned about my court date and what was gonna happen, to I gave that all to the Lord, and all I wanted to do is get to know God more, and uh, and so my relationship with God started to develop very strong in jail. I read the Bible from cover to cover in four months, and so I was reading a whole lot. Um, I was memorizing scripture one verse every week. Um, and and through God just changing me through the power of the word of God, uh, I no longer wanted to hang out with the the wrong crowds in jail, I no longer wanted to gamble, I no longer wanted to watch whatever was on TV. I just I found myself just being more hungry for the Bible and just just spending time with God. And so uh my life was radically changing in 2007 and 2008, and and it's actually sitting in jail. I ended up getting 13 months, but it was actually sitting in jail uh that where I believe God had called me to preach. And so I didn't know what to do, I didn't know what a call to preach meant. I didn't know how all this worked, I didn't know anything. I just knew that I didn't know what I was gonna do with my life. And I asked God, I said, God, I said, you know, what what would you have me to do? What do you want from my life now? And uh, and and I woke up the next day and I was reading the Bible and praying, and and everything in my heart and mind was was that God wanted me to go back and tell my old crowd that there's hope when things seem hopeless, and that my job was to share the gospel that had set me free and and bring that to lost sinners, to bring that to to hopeless people, just like I was, to bring that to people bound by addictions and drugs and uh that didn't have a good childhood, or how whatever it is that that was that was a burden that I was I was starting to get while I was incarcerated.

SPEAKER_00 43:00

Wow. So how did that then move into lifeline? Can you kind of walk us through that over the next five minutes?

SPEAKER_02 43:08

That's that's a real question, good question. Um, and so I get out in July of 2008, and within three, four days, God had opened the door for me to be in a juvenile detention center. And so I started sharing my testimony in the juvenile detention center. Then in 2010, God opened the door for me to go to Bible school, and uh, which was a miracle in itself, and and so I ended up going to Bible school. I graduated um and with a bachelor's degree in divinity in 2013, and then 2014, um, I was ordained into the gospel ministry. And so uh I took off. I was I started working with courts. God just was opened miraculous doors. I was able to get into multiple jails and uh And you got to understand, with a background like mine, I was I was very hesitant to even consider that the jail would let me in there. And uh, but every jail I would knock on the door and talk to, they're like, absolutely, come on in. And so God just started opening these doors. And and and then I was like, Well, well, you know, I want to do uh an addictions program for them. I want to help them with something. And so this is 2013, 2014. Uh, the courts actually started sentencing inmates to us. And so uh, as they would on a part of their probation, um, now again, they're not allowed to sentence you to God. The inmates had to request that, hey, I'd like to go to this program, and then the judge could say yes. And uh, and so we would end up, you know, having people come to our little program on a Friday night. And so before you know it, it started growing 10, 20, 30, 40, and people started coming, people started getting saved, and um, and that was my journey into becoming a pastor uh in 2015, no, 2014. Um, everybody in the program was coming to me and they said, you know, we we want you to to be our pastor. And and I thought they were crazy. I I wasn't gonna be nobody's pastor, you got the wrong guy. Um, I'm I'm just that's not on my mind, that's not in my prayer life. I'm just a nobody that just wants to help somebody, and you know, I'm just another beggar sharing a crumb with another beggar, you know. And I I really could never have seen myself to be a pastor. And um, and and so of course, when all that was going on, I started, I started praying, I started taking counsel from different men of God around the country and started reading the word of God. And and I and and God spoke to me in Ephesians chapter 3, verse 20, and says that God is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think. And when I saw that verse, I realized that I had never asked to be a pastor and I never thought about being one. But that Bible said that that God is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that. And and so I said yes to becoming a pastor, not because I thought that I could do it. I I said yes to becoming a pastor because I believe that God can do it. And so, and and so that's what led us to Lifeline. Um, my heart's always been in addictions, recovery, and uh, and so we we started Lifeline. Uh, I I actually planted Lifeline Ministry Church in 2024 uh of the summertime, and we were given a church facility, believe it or not. I mean, talk about a miracle for one dollar a year. And uh, and so it needed a lot of construction work, it needed a lot of help, but it looked like a dream come true when they said a dollar a year. And so uh God just opened the door to that church, started sending provisions, the roof was fixed, all the building was renovated, and uh and I work, I'm the chaplain in Daphne Jail now. Uh I work in Fairhope, Alabama jail, I work in Gulf Shores Jail. I have a free outpatient addictions recovery program. We have 17.4 acres of land. We're starting Lifeline Discipleship Homes. It's going to be a residential facility for men. Uh, they'll come and it'll be a six-month program and uh to disciple them in the word of God, to teach them the gospel, to to teach them the word of God, to teach them trades, to get involved with family restoration, how to be godly men, godly dads, and and and be restored back to your children and your your loved ones. And so um, and then through that process, I was able to write uh the Life Line of Freedom curriculum. It's a it's a three-book series, um, it's a six-month program, and uh, and so we use these these books here. I've got them on my desk, and and um, and you can find them, you know, on our website or Amazon or wherever. And um, and so that's pretty much it.

SPEAKER_00 48:17

That is amazing. It's such a it's it's so encouraging to hear how the Lord has brought you from that into now take what has happened to you and put it under my glory, right? Like go and pay it forward, go and reach out to the ones going through addiction, um, or the fathers to be restored to their kids because you talked about you didn't even know what your child looked like, right? From that period. So um I wanna I always ask a guest this question. Um, and if it's Ephesians, that's fine too. What is your ultimate scripture that resonates after you read from front cover to back cover in jail? What is the main scripture that you'd like to share with us today?

SPEAKER_02 49:10

You know, I I I get asked that question a lot, and uh it one of them would be Galatians 2.20. And if I'm ever, people sometimes ask me to sign a book or sign something, and and I always at the end of letters or whatever, I'll put Galatians 2.20. But uh one of the verses that that means a whole lot to me would be John chapter 6, verse 35, and it says, And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life. He that cometh to me shall never hunger, and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. And and the and I and I couldn't understand that verse in my younger years of Christianity, but now when I look at that, I look at the fact that that Jesus Christ is everything, the gospel is everything, everything that I ever wanted, everything that I ever looked for, uh all the acceptance that I wanted to be a part of, all the love, the fulfillment, the purpose, uh everything truly comes from Jesus Christ and the gospel. It's truly a relationship with him. And and I look back at my life and I was a hungry man. I was hungry for something. I was I was thirsty. Drugs, alcohol, people, places, and things, it it never fulfilled me. Um I always woke up days after empty, uh, hopeless. And uh, and so when I think about this verse now, Jesus says he's the bread of life. And and if and if we'll turn, if we'll if we'll repent to the Lord and and and believe the gospel and and believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins and and rose the third day and and truly accept him as our Lord and Savior, uh, we're accepting the bread of life. We're he Jesus says, I'm the way, the truth, and the life. And he that hath the son hath life. And so outside of Jesus Christ, there's no life. We have nothing. And uh, and that's why I believe we're seeking, searching, we're looking, we're trying to be fulfilled. We're we're any any which way that we can find some sort of happiness and peace. And and I promise this that everything everyone is looking for is truly found in Jesus Christ. Today, I'm not hungry no more. I'm not hungry for something else, and I'm not wondering if this would be better. I know that I have something far better, and it's the gospel, it's Jesus Christ. I have a personal relationship with God, I'm able to walk with God, I'm not thirsty no more. My my my thirst has been quenched, and so I'm just so thankful uh for my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

SPEAKER_00 51:50

Yeah, it's like a lasting um when we're hungry or thirsty, it's so unexplainable that he quenches it. It's us that go after the worldly temporary, feel great for a moment, then not feel great after it, you know, like you never have to feel like with the Lord that it's gonna it's gonna fizzle out, you know what I mean? Or have bad repercussions. Well, I wanted to ask you, um, Pastor Chuck, I can't believe how quick the time went by. Um, what if our listeners wanted to connect with you? Um, how could they go about doing so?

SPEAKER_02 52:27

Okay, so um you can you can you can actually email me directly through our church website and you can go to our website, it's lifelineal.com. And uh we would do a lot of updates there, um, even our sermons. You it'll even, if you go to the sermon page, that will bring you over to our YouTube page. And so we do have a YouTube channel, and right now I'm working towards producing each chapter of Lifeline to Freedom books so that those that purchase it maybe and and are not in a class down here with us, they can do a the do the sermon in the class online as well. So you can find us on YouTube. You can find us at lifelineal.com, and then you can find us on Facebook as well.

SPEAKER_00 53:12

Oh, I love it. Multiple platforms listeners to find uh more information about Lifeline. Well, I have enjoyed so much hearing your story. I still learned more about you even from today's recording. Um, and Pastor Chuck, I just truly believe the Lord is just gonna continue to do amazing work through your organization. And um, I want to thank you for your obedience to the Lord because that's the biggest piece is when we say yes to what he has called us to do and we walk in our purpose, we will not hunger nor thirst.

SPEAKER_02 53:45

Absolutely. Yep, and those that lose their life shall find it, and uh, and that's a quote from the Lord. Um, one last thing to mention too. Um, there's a there's unshackled out of Chicago, Illinois, Pacific Garden Mission. And what they do is they do drama of people's life stories and testimonies, and it goes out worldwide to to all kinds of radio stations in different countries. And so they'll actually be playing my testimony April the 19th through the 25th. And so you could go to unshackled.org and out of Pacific Garden Missions in Chicago, Illinois, and that'll be aired there as well.

SPEAKER_00 54:27

Oh, I love that. Thank you for sharing. I'll have to check that out.

SPEAKER_02 54:31

Yes, ma'am.

SPEAKER_00 54:33

Well, listeners, uh, we've really appreciated you spending time listening in on today's Godwink. Um, I always like to have an open invitation. If you or someone you know of has a testimony to share of an going through addictions and how God has redeemed, uh, we are doing the series as long as the Lord takes us to do this series. I I asked him that question of is this going to be April? Is it also gonna be May? And he's really teaching me to just be obedient and wait. He doesn't always tell us when the end is. But man, I just love the flow that's going on with people opening up and being raw and real about how darkness can be changed into light and in used for his glory. So um, listeners, if today's podcast resonates with you or you believe it could resonate with somebody that you know, share the link with them today. Uh, you never know how a Godwink can completely impact someone for the good. And you never know, maybe even Lifeline Alabama takes out of staters into the program. You never know. Um, but thank you so much, Pastor Chuck, for being on with us today.

SPEAKER_02 55:47

And thank you so much for having me.

SPEAKER_00 55:51

Listeners, we listen, I look forward to having you listen in on the next Godwink. Be blessed.

SPEAKER_02 55:58

Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 55:59

I want to give a big thank you to Office Evolution Troy for providing their podcast studio for us this afternoon to record. If you have any questions or you would like to book your own time in their podcast studio, give them a call at 586-788-9966. If today's Godwin story really hit home with you, we would love to hear about it through the Godwing community on Facebook. If you know of someone that needs to hear today's Godwin story, show them some love and tag them on the Godwing podcast. You never know how a Godwing story might change their day around for the better. If you or someone you know has a Godwin story that the world needs to hear, we want to hear it. Simply click the link within the podcast notes to send in your Godwin story. Until next time, remember God's got you. Wink wink.