WEBVTT 00:00:11.279 --> 00:00:14.880 You know, I'd uh I'd be at the stoplight, you know, in the middle of town. 00:00:15.119 --> 00:00:18.239 Roll down my window and how far across the street, hey, do you know Jesus? 00:00:18.320 --> 00:00:22.079 And they'd say, uh, I'd park my car right across the street and leads me to the ward. 00:00:22.320 --> 00:00:25.359 I'd go to the bank, give the lady money for her deposit. 00:00:25.440 --> 00:00:27.440 And I'd grab her hand and say, hey, do you know Jesus? 00:00:28.399 --> 00:00:30.719 No, I'd lead her to the lord right there at the bank. 00:00:30.800 --> 00:00:33.119 I'd go to the grocery store, the guy's handling the melodies. 00:00:33.200 --> 00:00:34.079 I'd tap them on the shoulder. 00:00:34.240 --> 00:00:34.960 Do you know Jesus? 00:00:35.119 --> 00:00:35.439 Uh-uh. 00:00:35.600 --> 00:00:36.640 I'd lead them to the Lord. 00:00:36.799 --> 00:00:38.640 So I let about 400 people to the Lord. 00:00:38.719 --> 00:00:43.520 That first year, I was so at The Road. 00:00:43.840 --> 00:00:47.439 Our mission is to empower people to change the world. 00:00:47.600 --> 00:00:51.600 For more information on The Road, visit theroad.org. 00:00:51.759 --> 00:00:54.960 We hope you are encouraged by today's message. 00:01:01.200 --> 00:01:03.200 So I'm excited to be here today. 00:01:03.280 --> 00:01:05.680 Today I want to talk about holy hunger. 00:01:05.840 --> 00:01:06.640 What is it? 00:01:06.879 --> 00:01:08.079 How do you get it? 00:01:08.239 --> 00:01:10.480 And what can happen when you have it? 00:01:10.640 --> 00:01:12.959 Because the sky's the limit, baby. 00:01:13.280 --> 00:01:25.359 I think one of the biggest challenges in the Christian life today, one of the biggest dichotomies, if you will, is how do you remain full of the things of God and be hungry at the same time? 00:01:25.760 --> 00:01:26.799 Let me repeat that. 00:01:26.879 --> 00:01:31.760 How do we remain full of the things of God and hungry at the same time? 00:01:31.920 --> 00:01:34.719 It almost sounds like a dichotomy, doesn't it? 00:01:34.799 --> 00:01:37.200 Or like a uh like a contradiction, doesn't it? 00:01:37.280 --> 00:01:38.480 But it's really not. 00:01:39.040 --> 00:01:41.920 In the physical realm, how do you get hungry? 00:01:42.239 --> 00:01:43.439 By not eating, right? 00:01:43.680 --> 00:01:45.359 Reminds me of the show Survivor. 00:01:45.519 --> 00:01:47.840 Any Survivor fans out there, raise your hands. 00:01:48.079 --> 00:01:55.920 Well, Survivor, I mean, these guys are out there stranded, they're, I mean, they have nothing to eat, they're starving, they'll eat bats, they'll eat rats. 00:01:56.079 --> 00:02:00.959 When you're really, really hungry, I mean, really, really hungry, you eat just about anything. 00:02:01.200 --> 00:02:05.599 Moms, how many of you in your teenage kids say there's nothing to eat in this house? 00:02:05.760 --> 00:02:10.479 And you can look in the freezer, you can look in the fridge, and you can look in the cupboards, you can find 15 meals. 00:02:10.639 --> 00:02:14.800 But if they're really, really hungry, they'll eat just about anything. 00:02:15.039 --> 00:02:22.800 On the show of Survivor, almost every season, they have what they call a food challenge, where they eat some of the grossest things on earth. 00:02:22.960 --> 00:02:28.800 And um, there's one guy, one episode, uh, the guy in there, big black guy, muscular, looked like a gentle giant. 00:02:28.879 --> 00:02:29.759 His name was James. 00:02:29.840 --> 00:02:33.759 If you watched um Survivor, he's probably been on five for like four or five seasons. 00:02:33.919 --> 00:02:37.199 He he would eat everything and anything during that food challenge. 00:02:37.280 --> 00:02:44.639 He'd just gobble it up because he knew that that's a good source of protein, and he might not get that protein for days upon days. 00:02:44.800 --> 00:02:45.599 So he'd eat it up. 00:02:45.680 --> 00:02:50.159 In one episode, after he ate one of the grossest things ever, he licked his lips. 00:02:50.240 --> 00:02:54.639 And I'm thinking only hunger can cause someone to do something like that. 00:02:55.680 --> 00:02:56.719 How about the spiritual realm? 00:02:56.800 --> 00:02:57.840 How do we get hungry? 00:02:58.000 --> 00:03:00.639 Well, we get hungry by eating, right? 00:03:00.800 --> 00:03:01.840 Just the opposite. 00:03:02.000 --> 00:03:04.879 And by consuming and chewing on the things of God. 00:03:05.120 --> 00:03:09.919 Psalm 34, 8 says, Taste and see that the Lord is good. 00:03:10.000 --> 00:03:10.879 And it's so true. 00:03:11.120 --> 00:03:11.599 Do you remember? 00:03:11.680 --> 00:03:14.879 I remember Lay's potato chips, their commercials back in the olden days. 00:03:15.039 --> 00:03:18.479 One of them used to say, Bet you can't eat just one, you know? 00:03:18.639 --> 00:03:20.560 And the word of God is kind of like that. 00:03:20.719 --> 00:03:23.039 You get hungry for it as you start eating it. 00:03:23.199 --> 00:03:25.759 The more you eat it, the more you want to eat it. 00:03:26.000 --> 00:03:29.120 Well, holy hunger is actually a sign of health. 00:03:29.360 --> 00:03:31.680 In fact, physical hunger is a sign of health too. 00:03:31.759 --> 00:03:33.280 And you're thinking, how can that be? 00:03:33.520 --> 00:03:35.360 How many of you have little kids? 00:03:35.599 --> 00:03:37.759 You know they have ferocious appetites. 00:03:37.919 --> 00:03:42.159 So when they're not eating, it's a sign that something's not right. 00:03:43.199 --> 00:03:54.800 When people aren't spiritually hungry, when they're not reading their Bible, when they have no desire to hang around fellow believers or even pray, it's a sign that something's not right and they're spiritually unhealthy. 00:03:54.879 --> 00:04:03.280 Or when they read their Bible, like a software license, you know, where they don't really read it, they just skim down to the bottom, hit I agree, and click it and get it out of the way. 00:04:03.439 --> 00:04:05.360 So that's how some people read their Bible. 00:04:05.520 --> 00:04:12.080 They just read it out of duty, read it to read it, to say they did it, and check it off their list, but they don't really chew on it. 00:04:12.240 --> 00:04:13.599 They don't really ponder it. 00:04:13.680 --> 00:04:16.639 And so they wonder why they get no revelation. 00:04:18.079 --> 00:04:20.639 Well, hunger, it can cause us to dream. 00:04:20.800 --> 00:04:25.920 We've all heard the expression, God wants to take us beyond our wildest dreams. 00:04:26.319 --> 00:04:30.000 The problem is for many people, they've forgotten how to dream wildly. 00:04:30.240 --> 00:04:34.240 So holy hunger causes us to dream wildly again. 00:04:34.480 --> 00:04:35.519 So, what is hunger? 00:04:35.680 --> 00:04:37.279 What is holy hunger? 00:04:37.600 --> 00:04:46.639 Well, it's a motivating force that takes us out of who we are and where we're at into a greater and better place. 00:04:47.120 --> 00:04:50.560 Holy hunger takes us out of our comfort zones. 00:04:50.879 --> 00:04:54.160 Holy hunger takes us out of our convenience. 00:04:54.480 --> 00:04:57.519 Holy hunger takes us out of our entitlement. 00:04:58.079 --> 00:05:02.560 Holy hunger takes us out of our dignity, out of our pride, out of our apathy. 00:05:02.639 --> 00:05:06.720 And yes, holy hunger even takes us out of our pain. 00:05:07.600 --> 00:05:08.240 Job. 00:05:08.800 --> 00:05:11.759 In the midst of everything, when everything was taken away from him. 00:05:11.920 --> 00:05:14.079 I mean, the dude was at rock bottom. 00:05:14.240 --> 00:05:15.519 His wife said, curse God. 00:05:15.600 --> 00:05:16.959 He said, I'm not gonna curse God. 00:05:17.120 --> 00:05:18.399 Instead, what do you do? 00:05:19.279 --> 00:05:29.600 In Job 14, 14, Job held his hands up to the sky and he said, All the days of my appointed time I'll wait until my change comes. 00:05:29.759 --> 00:05:34.000 So holy hunger, yes, can even take us out of our pain. 00:05:35.519 --> 00:05:37.680 So, how do you get hungry? 00:05:37.839 --> 00:05:42.079 Well, you get hungry by chewing on, consuming the things of God. 00:05:42.319 --> 00:05:44.319 It can come by reading your Bible. 00:05:44.560 --> 00:05:49.839 Even if you don't read your Bible, and you know, I have probably about 20 Bibles at home. 00:05:50.000 --> 00:05:51.040 I like this one the best. 00:05:51.120 --> 00:05:52.319 It's full of duct tape. 00:05:52.480 --> 00:05:57.600 I don't think I'll ever get rid of it because it's got probably at least 25 years of notes in it. 00:05:57.839 --> 00:06:12.160 And um, but even when I'm not hungry to read my Bible, if I hold up and say, Lord, make this real to me, make it come alive as I'm reading it, Lord, let it speak to me, let it bring life to me, let it give me revelation. 00:06:12.319 --> 00:06:18.959 Lord, if I have to read the same verses over and over and over again until I hear you speak, Lord, let that come to pass. 00:06:19.120 --> 00:06:20.000 And you know what? 00:06:20.319 --> 00:06:22.079 God will honor that. 00:06:22.560 --> 00:06:28.160 How many of you uh know that you can get hungry by reading other books as well? 00:06:28.639 --> 00:06:30.560 Anyone here of Tommy Tenney? 00:06:31.279 --> 00:06:34.319 He wrote the book God Chasers and many other books. 00:06:34.480 --> 00:06:37.199 Uh, but God Chasers is one of my favorite books. 00:06:37.360 --> 00:06:40.639 I've got the book up here, Extreme God Chasers. 00:06:41.040 --> 00:06:41.759 Extreme. 00:06:42.000 --> 00:06:44.879 So um, great book, but Tommy is a good old boy. 00:06:45.040 --> 00:06:50.399 And he'll say things, the kind of things that you thought, man, I wish I would have said that. 00:06:50.639 --> 00:06:55.360 Things like, whatever you can ponder in your heart, God can carry in your womb. 00:06:55.600 --> 00:06:59.759 Or expectancy is the matrix of miracles. 00:06:59.920 --> 00:07:02.560 I get excited when I read stuff like that. 00:07:02.720 --> 00:07:14.639 Tommy's a Louisiana boy, and for two years straight, every Tuesday, he'd fly up from Louisiana to Baltimore and he'd visit Rock Church, a church pastored by Bart Pierce. 00:07:14.800 --> 00:07:19.680 Rock Church was 73 minutes away from my front door in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania. 00:07:19.839 --> 00:07:24.399 So every Tuesday, out of hunger, I'd go hear Tommy Tenney speak. 00:07:24.560 --> 00:07:25.759 I'd bring my kids with me. 00:07:25.839 --> 00:07:27.279 Sometimes I'd go alone. 00:07:27.439 --> 00:07:32.000 But every service that I listened to, um, none of them were the same. 00:07:32.160 --> 00:07:34.399 But they all had one common denominator. 00:07:34.639 --> 00:07:40.480 By the end of the service, everyone was on their face weeping for more of God. 00:07:40.720 --> 00:07:44.000 Tommy had that ability that God really used him. 00:07:44.319 --> 00:07:54.800 One time he went to, he came back from uh the Hibride Islands and and uh and Wales because he wanted to go to the church where the revival happened in the Hibrides. 00:07:55.199 --> 00:08:01.199 1900, Evan Roberts went through Wales and the Hibride Islands, and like 90-some percent of the country got saved. 00:08:01.439 --> 00:08:07.519 1949, Duncan Campbell was the pastor that that ushered in revival in the Hibrides. 00:08:07.839 --> 00:08:10.800 But the catalysts of that revival were two old ladies. 00:08:10.959 --> 00:08:12.639 They called them the seekers. 00:08:12.879 --> 00:08:16.720 One was blind, one had arthritis, they would kind of help each other around. 00:08:16.879 --> 00:08:22.000 But they would pray for revival to come to Cook, the town of Cook in the Hibrides. 00:08:22.160 --> 00:08:23.120 Every day they'd pray. 00:08:23.199 --> 00:08:30.720 At night, they would go out in their barn, cover themselves up to their neck in hay, and pray for revival to come. 00:08:30.879 --> 00:08:33.600 People would drive by the barn at night and thought it was on fire. 00:08:33.840 --> 00:08:39.600 It wasn't on fire, it was just the manifest presence of God coming down, consuming the bar. 00:08:39.919 --> 00:08:49.039 Often they'd invite their niece, her name was Mary, would pray with them, and the three of them, covered up to their neck in hay, would pray for revival to come to the Hibrides. 00:08:49.440 --> 00:08:52.559 That niece, Mary, is Donald Trump's mother. 00:08:52.799 --> 00:08:54.879 The old ladies were his great aunts. 00:08:55.039 --> 00:08:56.159 True story. 00:08:57.279 --> 00:09:02.720 So Tommy Tenney wanted to go to the very church, a real small church where this happened. 00:09:02.960 --> 00:09:04.639 And he gets in there and it's really small. 00:09:04.799 --> 00:09:06.960 Two old ladies were up front, okay? 00:09:07.279 --> 00:09:09.759 And they're on their faces weeping before God. 00:09:09.919 --> 00:09:12.320 They're crying, they're praying for more revival to come. 00:09:12.480 --> 00:09:17.120 And they looked up and they said, Laddie, Laddie, come here. 00:09:17.440 --> 00:09:19.679 Laddie, come here, I've got something for you. 00:09:19.919 --> 00:09:21.840 And he said, Open your hand. 00:09:22.080 --> 00:09:29.679 And Tommy opened his hand and he held them, he held, he put in his hand a pocket full of matches, wooden matches. 00:09:30.159 --> 00:09:33.279 And he said, Go light some fires in America. 00:09:33.519 --> 00:09:42.960 So Tommy Tenney came back in the first service after he been to Wales in the Hebrides, and he had all these matches, and he threw them out just like this. 00:09:43.679 --> 00:09:47.440 And he said, Go light some fires in America. 00:09:47.840 --> 00:09:52.080 So I'll tell you what, I jumped on about three, four of those matches quicker than Grease Lightning. 00:09:53.360 --> 00:09:55.360 So books can get you excited. 00:09:55.600 --> 00:09:59.600 Another book I like, I don't know if any of you have heard of Ruth Ward Heflin. 00:10:00.000 --> 00:10:00.720 How many? 00:10:01.679 --> 00:10:09.039 Ruth has had the good privilege and pleasure of praying for more heads of state than anyone in recorded history. 00:10:09.360 --> 00:10:12.320 I mean, she's she just God opens the doors. 00:10:12.480 --> 00:10:13.919 She's in all these different countries. 00:10:14.080 --> 00:10:15.279 She died a few years ago. 00:10:15.519 --> 00:10:21.039 When she was real little, she told her parents who were missionaries, they had camp meetings in Virginia. 00:10:21.279 --> 00:10:25.039 She told her parents, I want to be, and she was young, early teens. 00:10:25.200 --> 00:10:29.279 Um I don't even know if she was a teenager yet, but you know, so 11, 12. 00:10:29.440 --> 00:10:32.159 She said, I want to be a missionary in China. 00:10:32.480 --> 00:10:34.159 Mom, dad, can I go to China? 00:10:34.320 --> 00:10:35.360 I think I'm supposed to go there. 00:10:35.440 --> 00:10:36.720 I'm supposed to be a missionary. 00:10:36.879 --> 00:10:39.120 And they thought, man, that's kind of young, Ruth. 00:10:39.360 --> 00:10:42.559 And they'd hear her praying at night, and they'd just tell her, Ruth, Ruth, it's late. 00:10:42.720 --> 00:10:43.759 Go to bed, you know. 00:10:43.919 --> 00:10:46.559 One night they heard her praying and it sounded kind of different. 00:10:46.720 --> 00:10:48.399 So they went and listened at her door. 00:10:48.559 --> 00:10:49.840 They thought, this is unusual. 00:10:49.919 --> 00:10:58.559 They opened up the door, she was sleeping, and she was praying in fluent Chinese, and they knew it was probably a good idea to let Ruth go to China. 00:10:58.720 --> 00:11:01.679 You know, God would tell her things like, I want you to go to Ethiopia. 00:11:01.840 --> 00:11:03.360 And she'd say, God, I don't have any money. 00:11:03.600 --> 00:11:06.240 So, well, I didn't ask you if you had money, go to Ethiopia. 00:11:06.399 --> 00:11:10.399 So she'd get up in line, there'd be five people in line, then four, then three, then two, then one. 00:11:10.720 --> 00:11:15.919 She'd stand up there and she'd say, I need one ticket, one way to Ethiopia, one plane ticket. 00:11:16.080 --> 00:11:18.240 And someone would come up and pay for her ticket. 00:11:18.480 --> 00:11:20.159 Her whole life was like that. 00:11:20.480 --> 00:11:23.039 This book, it's called Harvest Glory. 00:11:23.200 --> 00:11:24.879 It's one of her my favorite books by her. 00:11:24.960 --> 00:11:26.080 She's got a number of them. 00:11:26.240 --> 00:11:28.799 But every chapter is only a couple pages long. 00:11:29.039 --> 00:11:34.480 And even if you're tired, you can get through three, four chapters, because I tell you, it's just exciting. 00:11:34.559 --> 00:11:35.919 It gets me hungry. 00:11:36.480 --> 00:11:40.799 Well, you can also get hungry by hanging out with other believers. 00:11:41.039 --> 00:11:45.440 You know, you tend to be like the five people that you hang out with the most. 00:11:45.840 --> 00:11:49.519 Are those five people bringing you up or are they bringing you down? 00:11:50.000 --> 00:11:57.039 I've heard, you know, people say, I want to be the dumbest person in the room, because I want everyone to be smarter than me, so I can learn from someone, you know? 00:11:57.279 --> 00:11:58.879 And uh so I kind of want that too. 00:11:58.960 --> 00:12:02.799 I want to be, I want to be around people that are even hungrier than I am. 00:12:03.120 --> 00:12:07.519 So you can get hungry by listening to the testimony of others. 00:12:07.679 --> 00:12:09.440 You know, everyone's got a testimony. 00:12:09.600 --> 00:12:15.600 If you claim the name of Jesus, if you've been passed from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light, you got a testimony. 00:12:15.759 --> 00:12:19.200 People say to me all the time, Well, I I don't really have a good testimony. 00:12:19.279 --> 00:12:21.519 I mean, I didn't do anything wild or bad. 00:12:21.679 --> 00:12:23.759 And I'll say, Are you kidding me? 00:12:23.919 --> 00:12:26.240 That's the best testimony altogether. 00:12:26.399 --> 00:12:31.120 I mean, the grace of God kept you all the trouble out of all the trouble that I got into. 00:12:31.360 --> 00:12:33.840 Because I I found a lot of it when I was growing up. 00:12:34.080 --> 00:12:35.360 So the testimony of others. 00:12:35.440 --> 00:12:37.360 What does Revelation 12, 11 say? 00:12:37.679 --> 00:12:43.919 It says, We overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony. 00:12:44.080 --> 00:12:46.399 And they love that their lives unto death. 00:12:46.480 --> 00:12:49.440 So today I'm gonna share a little bit of my my testimony. 00:12:49.519 --> 00:12:52.559 I'm only gonna give you the uh reader's digest condensed version. 00:12:52.799 --> 00:12:59.200 To do the faux version, you're I'm gonna have to speak at least one more time, maybe a couple more times, because there's many, many stories in there. 00:12:59.360 --> 00:13:04.720 But I grew up in northern Minnesota, a small town called Carleton, outside of Duluth, Minnesota. 00:13:04.879 --> 00:13:08.080 My dad got a job working for Penny, stocking the shelves. 00:13:08.320 --> 00:13:13.440 He uh worked his tail off and they liked him, so they said, John, why don't you uh join our management team? 00:13:13.600 --> 00:13:16.240 He did, and he got promoted and transferred, promoted and transferred. 00:13:16.399 --> 00:13:26.559 We went from Carleton, Minnesota to Waterloo, Iowa, to Columbia, Missouri, to Jacksonville, Florida, my one of the funnest places I ever lived, and to Atlanta, Georgia. 00:13:26.799 --> 00:13:29.440 There, in 1973, my parents got divorced. 00:13:29.600 --> 00:13:32.159 Some things about Atlanta, Georgia. 00:13:32.639 --> 00:13:37.279 We lived in Dunwoody, and they were just building Dunwoody High School at the time. 00:13:37.440 --> 00:13:39.919 And they just finished eighth grade in the ninth grade. 00:13:40.000 --> 00:13:42.000 So I have four other brothers. 00:13:42.080 --> 00:13:44.000 There's five of us, or four of us. 00:13:44.720 --> 00:13:52.960 I do have a half-brother, so there's four other brothers, but four of us in five years, my mom had, and she got gray hair and a sense of humor real quick. 00:13:53.120 --> 00:13:57.519 But my brother, I was in eighth grade, my brother Brian, I was the youngest, was in ninth grade. 00:13:57.600 --> 00:14:01.200 And my two oldest brothers went to a different school called Peachtree High School. 00:14:01.440 --> 00:14:02.639 Remember that name. 00:14:02.879 --> 00:14:13.600 So Dunwitty High School, um, ten years after I went there, our very own Randy Valentine that goes here, and Randy and Christy, Randy went to that same high school ten years later. 00:14:13.759 --> 00:14:15.360 It's just such a small world. 00:14:15.600 --> 00:14:20.000 And Pastor Steve went to high school in a town right outside of Atlanta. 00:14:20.080 --> 00:14:24.159 He won state and gymnastics his senior year, the individual title. 00:14:24.320 --> 00:14:30.000 But this team lost by just a fraction of a point to Peachtree High School, my brother's high schools. 00:14:30.240 --> 00:14:33.279 So Steve went on to the University of Georgia, became a gymnast. 00:14:33.440 --> 00:14:36.799 My brother went on, oldest brother went on to the University of Georgia and stayed there. 00:14:36.960 --> 00:14:38.480 So I've got a brother in Athens. 00:14:38.639 --> 00:14:40.720 Steve's got a brother, David, in Athens. 00:14:41.039 --> 00:14:43.039 I lived in Athens before I moved here. 00:14:43.279 --> 00:14:44.480 Just a little side note. 00:14:44.559 --> 00:14:52.320 So when I walked in the door for the first time here at the road, I heard Pastor Steve talking about kingdom prayer and the Georgia Bulldogs. 00:14:52.559 --> 00:14:55.759 I looked up to heaven and I said, God, I'm home, you know. 00:14:56.320 --> 00:14:58.639 I thought this is heaven, you know. 00:14:58.879 --> 00:15:01.440 So we moved up to Minnesota to my mom's hometown. 00:15:01.519 --> 00:15:02.720 It was called Esco. 00:15:03.039 --> 00:15:04.879 We were the Esco Eskimos. 00:15:05.200 --> 00:15:06.000 No kidding. 00:15:06.080 --> 00:15:10.320 And it was, you know, two seasons in Minnesota, 4th of July and winter. 00:15:10.480 --> 00:15:12.159 It was cold there all the time. 00:15:13.039 --> 00:15:19.039 But one thing about my hometown, one thing about Minnesota, probably the upper fourth of Minnesota is all Scandinavian. 00:15:19.200 --> 00:15:22.720 A lot of Swedes, a lot of Norwegians, a lot of Finnish people. 00:15:22.879 --> 00:15:24.080 And my whole town was Finnish. 00:15:24.320 --> 00:15:27.600 My grandpa came right from Finland, my other grandpa came right from Ireland. 00:15:27.759 --> 00:15:29.519 But everyone in my town spoke Finn. 00:15:30.000 --> 00:15:36.080 The word sauna is the only Finnish word that everybody knows, and no one pronounces correctly. 00:15:36.159 --> 00:15:37.200 Everyone says sauna. 00:15:37.519 --> 00:15:39.200 It's not sauna, it's sauna. 00:15:39.360 --> 00:15:40.159 Take it from me. 00:15:40.399 --> 00:15:41.679 So I'm half Finn. 00:15:41.840 --> 00:15:43.279 That's why mermaids are so cute. 00:15:43.360 --> 00:15:44.159 They're half Finn. 00:15:44.559 --> 00:15:52.240 But another thing about my hometown is there's big fam, big families in my hometown because there's dairy farms. 00:15:52.320 --> 00:15:54.159 My grandpa had Meadowbrook Dairy. 00:15:54.320 --> 00:15:56.480 So my grandpa had 16 kids. 00:15:56.720 --> 00:15:58.159 His brother had 14. 00:15:58.320 --> 00:16:01.120 Another brother 12, and another brother 10. 00:16:01.279 --> 00:16:05.919 So you can imagine the number of first, second, and third cousins I had. 00:16:06.080 --> 00:16:10.240 I graduated 88 in my class, and I was related to 52. 00:16:10.480 --> 00:16:10.639 No. 00:16:13.519 --> 00:16:18.240 First day of ninth grade, I hadn't seen any of my cousins since I was real little because we were busy unpacking. 00:16:18.320 --> 00:16:21.360 I get home from school and I said, Mom, I think I'm in love. 00:16:21.519 --> 00:16:23.120 She's got blonde hair, she's beautiful. 00:16:23.279 --> 00:16:26.000 I said the name and she said, That's your cousin. 00:16:27.759 --> 00:16:30.559 Next day I said, Mom, I think I'm in love today. 00:16:30.879 --> 00:16:31.759 She's got black hair. 00:16:31.840 --> 00:16:33.759 I figured I'd try a different color hair, you know. 00:16:33.919 --> 00:16:36.879 She's beautiful, and I said the name, mom said, That's your cousin. 00:16:37.120 --> 00:16:40.240 The first five girls I liked, no lie, were my cousins. 00:16:40.480 --> 00:16:42.799 But I pretty much grew up without God. 00:16:44.639 --> 00:16:47.679 My mom's side of the family was pretty much sprint down the middle. 00:16:47.840 --> 00:16:51.840 Half were Bible-believing prayer warriors, diehard Christians. 00:16:52.000 --> 00:16:54.879 The other half were beer drinkers and hellraisers. 00:16:54.960 --> 00:16:56.799 And I fell into that other half. 00:16:57.039 --> 00:17:02.320 I went to um confirmation classes in ninth grade two times before I realized you're talking about God. 00:17:02.559 --> 00:17:03.519 I didn't want to go there. 00:17:03.600 --> 00:17:05.039 So I'd wait for my cousins. 00:17:05.119 --> 00:17:09.680 I'd sit up back behind the church and smoke cigarettes and drink beer in ninth grade. 00:17:10.240 --> 00:17:12.720 All through high school, I had a number of different jobs. 00:17:12.799 --> 00:17:15.839 I had at least two or three jobs all through high school. 00:17:15.920 --> 00:17:19.359 Um I was in every sport, one of the stars in every sport. 00:17:19.599 --> 00:17:23.519 But when I was a senior, I got a job at Hardy's as a cook. 00:17:23.680 --> 00:17:25.759 And it was a turning point in my life. 00:17:25.920 --> 00:17:26.880 They love me. 00:17:27.119 --> 00:17:28.000 I love them. 00:17:28.160 --> 00:17:31.680 They said, Al, when you graduate, won't you go into our management program? 00:17:31.759 --> 00:17:32.640 I said, okay. 00:17:32.880 --> 00:17:39.759 And when I was right when I became 19 years old, I became their youngest general manager with about a hundred employees. 00:17:39.920 --> 00:17:41.359 Later on, I grew up quickly. 00:17:41.680 --> 00:17:48.000 I was a district manager, personnel director, and I was in charge of eight states and 5,000 employees by the time I was 23. 00:17:48.160 --> 00:17:51.839 So I was very results-oriented. 00:17:52.079 --> 00:17:56.480 Well, that first store I managed was right right by my hometown, five miles away. 00:17:56.640 --> 00:18:02.559 And there was a girl that would come in almost every day, and I thought, she was the prettiest thing on earth. 00:18:02.720 --> 00:18:08.000 And looking back, what was pretty about her, she just had the glory of God all over her. 00:18:08.160 --> 00:18:09.119 She glowed. 00:18:09.279 --> 00:18:11.359 I mean, she just glistened, you know. 00:18:11.599 --> 00:18:13.759 And one day I got the nerve up to ask her out. 00:18:13.839 --> 00:18:15.039 Her name was Barbie Tester. 00:18:15.119 --> 00:18:17.759 I said, Barbie, will you go out on a date with me? 00:18:18.000 --> 00:18:18.880 She kind of smiled. 00:18:19.039 --> 00:18:23.359 She said, I don't go out with any boys that don't go to church with me first. 00:18:23.599 --> 00:18:25.440 In the back of my mind, I'm thinking, I can do that. 00:18:25.599 --> 00:18:27.599 I said, Barbie, I'll go to church with you. 00:18:28.480 --> 00:18:31.759 So that next Sunday, I found myself sitting next to Barbie at church. 00:18:31.839 --> 00:18:36.559 And when we walked in, the first thing I noticed was everybody in there was beautiful like Barbie. 00:18:36.640 --> 00:18:39.039 They were all glowing with the goodness of God. 00:18:39.200 --> 00:18:44.480 And it was something I knew I didn't have in my life, something I was attracted to, something I wanted. 00:18:44.640 --> 00:18:48.240 And I thought, man, they're just all glistening, they're glowing. 00:18:48.480 --> 00:18:52.559 And then the church started, they started playing some music, and I was going to say something. 00:18:52.640 --> 00:18:55.200 I turned to Barbie and I looked and her eyes were closed. 00:18:55.279 --> 00:18:56.480 And her hands were raised. 00:18:56.559 --> 00:18:57.359 And she was singing. 00:18:57.440 --> 00:18:59.359 I thought, that's about as weird as it gets. 00:18:59.519 --> 00:19:01.680 And I looked around and everybody's eyes were closed. 00:19:01.839 --> 00:19:04.319 Everybody's hands were raised and everybody was singing. 00:19:04.480 --> 00:19:06.880 And later, Barbie told me that was called worship. 00:19:07.039 --> 00:19:11.039 You know, I've heard the term worship before, but had no context in the church realm. 00:19:11.119 --> 00:19:12.559 I was just kind of naive. 00:19:12.799 --> 00:19:15.359 You know, and so um they had some words up on the screen. 00:19:15.440 --> 00:19:18.559 I could see that they were singing those words, so I started singing along. 00:19:18.720 --> 00:19:21.440 And after the second thought, I got a little beaten there. 00:19:21.519 --> 00:19:22.400 I thought, this is pretty good. 00:19:22.480 --> 00:19:25.119 They got some guitars, and church isn't so bad. 00:19:25.359 --> 00:19:27.200 Then this guy got up and started telling stories. 00:19:27.279 --> 00:19:29.119 And I presume they were from the Bible. 00:19:29.200 --> 00:19:30.720 They sounded like they could be. 00:19:30.960 --> 00:19:32.960 And then he had what he called an altar call. 00:19:33.119 --> 00:19:34.400 Barbie told me later. 00:19:34.559 --> 00:19:42.240 And I didn't respond, but all day long when I left church, all I could think about was that altar call. 00:19:42.400 --> 00:19:47.519 And the words he said, I kept playing them over and over in my mind. 00:19:47.759 --> 00:20:01.839 And 19 years old, living on my own, that night, I got down on my knees and I said, Jesus, if you're real, come into my heart, come into my life, take me, make me into everything I've been called to be. 00:20:02.000 --> 00:20:04.000 And I instantly started weeping. 00:20:04.240 --> 00:20:08.559 And I felt fresh as a new driven snow. 00:20:09.279 --> 00:20:10.880 And I just weeped. 00:20:11.279 --> 00:20:14.720 I instantly had a craving to read the Bible. 00:20:14.880 --> 00:20:17.839 I didn't even know if I had a Bible, but I found one. 00:20:18.000 --> 00:20:20.319 I found a bookshelf, and I knew I had a lot of books. 00:20:20.400 --> 00:20:21.039 I found a Bible. 00:20:21.119 --> 00:20:22.079 I dusted it off. 00:20:22.240 --> 00:20:25.680 I didn't know the difference between the Old Testament and the New Testament. 00:20:25.839 --> 00:20:26.720 I knew none of that. 00:20:26.880 --> 00:20:29.359 I just saw a name that looked like something I could read. 00:20:29.519 --> 00:20:30.400 It was Matthew. 00:20:30.559 --> 00:20:31.599 So I started reading there. 00:20:31.680 --> 00:20:32.400 I read all night. 00:20:32.480 --> 00:20:33.279 I didn't stop. 00:20:33.440 --> 00:20:36.480 All night long I read and I weeped and I cried. 00:20:36.559 --> 00:20:38.720 And I said, This is so simple. 00:20:38.960 --> 00:20:41.519 How come no one's ever taught me this before? 00:20:41.759 --> 00:20:43.519 And it was just, it was amazing. 00:20:43.680 --> 00:20:44.960 I couldn't wait until morning. 00:20:45.200 --> 00:20:49.680 When morning came, I called my mom and said, Mom, I got saved last night. 00:20:49.759 --> 00:20:51.359 You got to get saved today, mom. 00:20:51.680 --> 00:20:54.720 Because I think Jesus is coming and it's probably going to be in the next couple weeks. 00:20:54.880 --> 00:20:55.839 Do you know what I mean? 00:20:56.960 --> 00:20:59.519 And my mom said, Oh, that's nice, dear. 00:20:59.599 --> 00:21:01.119 That's good for you, you know. 00:21:01.359 --> 00:21:07.440 But later, a couple years later, I was able to lead my mom to the Lord before she passed away. 00:21:07.759 --> 00:21:11.359 My brother Michael was able to leave my dad to the Lord before he passed away. 00:21:11.759 --> 00:21:14.720 And I was able to lead my brother Brian to the Lord before he passed away. 00:21:14.880 --> 00:21:16.240 So they're watching right now. 00:21:16.400 --> 00:21:17.519 Hey guys. 00:21:18.400 --> 00:21:27.839 So the first thing I did I wanted to do, you know, when it got daylight out and everything, and the the bar that I used to hang out with was just about opening. 00:21:27.920 --> 00:21:31.359 And so I wanted to go in there and invite everyone over to my house, you know. 00:21:31.519 --> 00:21:36.240 So I went in there, and the bar had opened, and uh about 10 minutes earlier, there was already 50 people in there. 00:21:36.319 --> 00:21:42.559 I opened the bar, opened the bar door, and I said, Hey, I want everyone to come over to my house for a Bible study tonight. 00:21:42.720 --> 00:21:44.960 You know, I just figured like the natural thing to do. 00:21:45.119 --> 00:21:49.440 And they looked at me and they laughed and they thought I found a new drug, and I did. 00:21:49.599 --> 00:21:53.680 Instead of the L S D, I was now on J E S U S. 00:21:55.119 --> 00:21:58.880 The next thing I wanted to do is I thought, man, I should probably find a church. 00:21:59.039 --> 00:22:06.480 I lived in Minnesota, and um at the time, and on the same block of me, there was a church. 00:22:06.559 --> 00:22:08.240 I went by it hundreds of times. 00:22:08.400 --> 00:22:10.480 Didn't even think twice about it because why? 00:22:10.640 --> 00:22:14.319 It wasn't in my radar before, but now it was. 00:22:14.720 --> 00:22:20.559 And so I walked in the door and I said to the receptionist, I said, Hey, uh I'd like to speak to the manager. 00:22:20.799 --> 00:22:23.759 And she said, she said, uh, manager? 00:22:23.839 --> 00:22:24.559 She kind of goes. 00:22:24.880 --> 00:22:25.440 You mean the pastor? 00:22:25.599 --> 00:22:26.799 I said, is that what you call him? 00:22:26.960 --> 00:22:27.119 Pastor? 00:22:27.279 --> 00:22:28.400 I said, Yeah, the pastor. 00:22:28.480 --> 00:22:29.599 I want to speak to the pastor. 00:22:29.839 --> 00:22:35.599 So she got up and she was going to show me to his room, and I just walked past her, barged open the door, it was closed. 00:22:35.759 --> 00:22:39.519 He was talking on the phone, and I blurted out, I want to do the stuff. 00:22:39.759 --> 00:22:41.039 And he said, The stuff? 00:22:41.200 --> 00:22:44.960 I said, I want to lay hands on a stick, cast out demons, and raise the dead. 00:22:45.119 --> 00:22:46.880 And he said, I read it in the Bible. 00:22:47.039 --> 00:22:49.039 Jesus said, I could do greater things than that. 00:22:49.200 --> 00:22:50.480 Where do I sign up? 00:22:50.640 --> 00:22:54.240 And he looked at me and he says, Did you just get saved? 00:22:54.400 --> 00:22:55.359 I said last night. 00:22:55.519 --> 00:22:58.400 And he so he said to the guy, I think I need to call you back. 00:22:58.559 --> 00:22:59.920 So he hung up the phone. 00:23:00.079 --> 00:23:04.480 He talked to me for a little bit and he said, Al, he said, look, my son's the associate pastor. 00:23:04.559 --> 00:23:05.440 His name is Rob. 00:23:05.759 --> 00:23:08.480 He said, he's got a little Bible study at the prison, about 10 people. 00:23:08.640 --> 00:23:11.519 Won't you come tomorrow and go to the Bible study? 00:23:11.599 --> 00:23:12.720 And I thought, great. 00:23:12.880 --> 00:23:18.400 So on the way there, I said, Rob, I said, I know you've got 10 people at your Bible study, but to me that's kind of small. 00:23:18.559 --> 00:23:22.960