I'm going to share a message with you this evening called Your Mountain Will Move. So if there is a mountain in your life, hold firm tonight, because I know God's going to touch your heart in a powerful way. If you know anybody, anybody, and you're listening live tonight that has got a mountain in their life that they think is never going to get out of their way, something that's never going to change, something unresolvable, Contact them right now. Tell them to come to this website. Listen to this message tonight, because there are going to be three testimonies that are going to be part of this message this evening, and you're going to hear about a modern-day mountain-moving miracle that only God could have done and God is doing. We're hearing about that in this generation. I firmly believe, I believe in my heart that we're going to witness a great outpouring of the Spirit of God in this last season that we're now living in. I believe in my heart that we're going to start to see miracles. People are going to get healed listening online as you are tonight. There's going to be deliverance. There's going to be healing. There's going to be miraculous touches of God. You're going to end up contacting your neighbors and your friends and everybody that you're associated with on Facebook, and you're going to start telling them, you've got to come into this prayer meeting or other prayer meetings like it, or the service at Times Square Church on Sunday morning, whatever you choose, because God is moving in a powerful way, touching people's lives. The very ministry that Jesus said he came to do, is unfolding right before our eyes. One more time. When he stood in that pulpit and he said, the spirit of the Lord is upon me, because that means for this reason, God's given me, God the Father has given me the Holy Spirit to preach the gospel to the poor. That was the very first thing he said, to talk to people that have no resource, no power, no ability to get out of where they are right now. and to set free those that are captive, to heal those whose hearts have been wounded as they see beyond repair, to give sight to those who don't feel that they have a way forward. They're blind spiritually. They don't see a way out. They don't see a reason for life. They don't see anything good in the future. He said, I came to give you sight. I came to set the captive free. And the Bible says he closed the book and he sat down and everybody's eyes were fixed on him. In other words, like, is this possible? that what this man just said to us is actually going to happen. And then when he was sitting in his seat, he said, this day, this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing. So I'm saying to you today online, this day, this scripture is fulfilled. This day, your mountain is going to move. This day, God is going to do something that only God can do in your life, and your testimony will be all about him. I'm going to share for probably 10, 12 minutes or so. Then I've got three young men that have come to us from Alabama, Hunter Gillian, Jack Garner and Dakota Young, and they're gonna come and they're gonna share their story. And they're gonna tell you about a mountain that God just moved in their lives, an amazing mountain. And if you're not shouting, you're dead. That's all I can say. At the end of this, you're dead. You will have to send for the mortician here in the sanctuary, come pick you up and take you out and put you in a dry place somewhere. Your mountain will move. Mark chapter 11. and beginning at verse 20. Now, Father, as I read your word, Jesus Christ, I ask you, we ask you one more time that you would stretch out your hand and begin to heal, that you would do miracles in people's homes. I lift up people who are sitting in a room, in a half-lit room tonight, in a place of despair, not seeing a reason to live, not seeing a way forward, not understanding how things can change. I'm asking you, Jesus Christ, to come into that room tonight with light, with illumination, with power, with victory, with hope, with a future, granting them the ability to see the greatness of the victory that you won for them on the cross and helping them to understand that this day, the mountain in their life can be moved. Father, thank you, God, that you will give us the ability to share clearly tonight and reverently to every heart so that your name, Jesus Christ, might be lifted up and your purpose is accomplished. And we thank you for it in Jesus' precious name. Mark chapter 11, verse 20. Now in the morning, oh, thank you so much. Praise God. This old thing's not ready to pass away yet. Give me some time. In the morning as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots. Now Jesus had been going up into Jerusalem and on the way to Jerusalem where he was preparing to go to the cross to win the victory that you and I have today. He approached a tree that appeared, it was a deceptive tree. It gave the appearance of offering something of satisfaction. But when he got closer to it, to see that the tree was only a deceptive tree, he cursed it and said, nobody be deceived by you anymore. And it lost its power to deceive. Now that was a foreshadowing of something that was about to happen on the cross in the very near future. The next day they're coming back, they passed the tree again. And Peter, remembering, said to him in verse 21, Rabbi or teacher, look, the fig tree which you cursed has withered away. So Jesus answered and said to them, Have faith in God. He didn't say, look at what I have done. He actually turned it to them and said, you, in a sense, have faith in God. For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, be removed and be cast into the sea and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. So now Jesus is the one who cursed the fig tree, but now he's inviting his disciples to join him in taking authority over something much bigger, much more established, much heavier, much more permanent than just a fig tree. And therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them and you will have them. It's a phenomenal promise. Could you imagine if people really believe that today? prayer meetings would be the most packed meeting in the house of God. If we really believed, we'd be leaving here tonight, not going home to eat crackers, we'd be going home to pray and say, God, if that's true, whatever things I ask when I pray that I will receive them, that I'm going to start to pray and I'm going to believe you. And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive your trespasses. But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses." Now, this makes it very interesting because he ties this kind of faith into forgiveness. Without forgiveness, this kind of faith will not be known, it will not be realized, it will not be actualized. Now, when Jesus Christ cursed the fig tree on the way to Jerusalem, it was a sovereign act. It was something that he alone did, and it's a type of the cross. When Jesus went to the cross, he took your captivity captive, the Bible says, and gave gifts to you and to me. He took authority over that which formerly had the power to deceive us. Now, many of us were deceived by different things. You can be deceived by substance. You can be deceived by relationships. You can be deceived by false self-image. There's all kinds of things that can deceive us. And the fig tree, in one respect, represented that. And when he went to the cross, he destroyed the power of deception. Individual deceptions, okay? Things that we went to, we gravitated to, and we thought, this is going to make me happy, only to get close and find out it's a lie. It's offering an illusion of satisfaction. It's telling me it's going to fulfill me. But when I get close, there's nothing there. It leaves me empty. And many of us, if not all of us in this room and online, we've all fallen for some of this along the way, along the journey. We've all fallen for fig trees, things that we were on our way to Jerusalem as it is, it was a place of prayer. We're on our way there, but we got distracted by something that looked like it was a good thing. and it looked like it would satisfy the need that we felt at that particular moment, only to find out it's a deception. When Jesus Christ went to the cross, he took authority. He destroyed the power of deception to deceive any longer. He destroyed the power of drugs, for example, or alcohol, or relationships, whatever it is, to tell you that you're going to find satisfaction there. He destroyed the power of the fig tree in your life. But I find it very interesting that he left the bigger battle to be fought in partnership with us. He didn't say to Peter, well, now I'm going to curse the mountain. Okay, watch this, Peter. You thought the fig tree was something. Now watch what I'm going to do to the mountain. And he very well could have done it. He very well could have said, mountain be removed and cast into the sea, and it would have been, right? He was Almighty God, he could have done whatever he wanted to, but he invited the disciples into what was a larger battle, into a partnership. And actually, he says, whatever you say. If I say to you that whoever says to this mountain, be removed and cast into the sea, and doesn't doubt in his heart, but believes those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. Now, here's what I see the mountain to be. The mountain is the fuel source that allows these deceptive fig trees to prosper in our lives. The mountain is something deeper in us. It's, you know, we can spend a lot of our time getting over this and getting over drugs and getting over alcohol and getting over lust and getting over all of this other stuff in our lives. And those are the fig trees in our lives. But the mountain is something of weightiness or something of essence in our character that actually allows these fig trees to deceive us or to grow. Does that make sense to you tonight? And so he says, now I want you to take authority over the mountain. I want you to speak to this, I want you to speak to the mountains that are in your life that are allowing these deceptions to prosper. You see, for example, if you're an alcoholic, alcohol is really, it might become a problem, but it wasn't your initial problem. Your initial problem was whatever drove you to drinking to make you think that drinking was going to make you happy. It's something in your character. It's the mountain inside of you. And I'm saying this repetitiously because I want you to really get this. It's something of your character. that you can't change. That's what makes it a mountain. It's some unmet need. It's some ill formation. May I put it this way? It's something that grew. It's something that got planted. It's something that you and I can't move by any amount of human effort. We just are what we are. and we can't change it. And so we're constantly fighting against the fig trees that are deceiving us because we're looking in every which direction to find satisfaction. And so we're falling for all of these things around us. When you look at the prayer requests on this prayer meeting tonight, many, many, many, many of the people who are submitting prayer requests or people who are submitting requests for family members or loved ones, they've fallen for fig trees. They've fallen for something, wrong relationships, wrong thinking, wrong practice, something they're putting in their bodies to make them think they're going to be happy. They've fallen for fig trees. But the fig trees are not the problem. Because if all we do is focus on fig trees, master, look at the fig tree you cursed has withered away. And if that's your only testimony, I used to do this, now I don't do it anymore, but you've never dealt with the mountain. You've never dealt with what let this tree grow in the first place. Where is it drawing its nutrition from? What is it in my life that allows this to grow? in my sight and deceive me into thinking that if I just approach it, I'm going to be happy. Jesus said, I will curse the power of the fig tree, but I want you to curse the mountain. I want you to speak to the mountain. I want you to speak to that thing in your life that just is there and has no right to be there. That thing that is allowing these deceptions to grow. Because folks, if we don't deal with the mountain, you're just gonna be dealing with fig trees the rest of your life. It'll be one fig tree, another fig tree, the next fig tree. You'll be running all the time to things that you think are gonna make you happy. It can be anything from alcohol to sports to relationships, whatever. You just think it's gonna make you happy and it just leaves you empty at the end. Because there's something inside that is not satisfied by the presence of God. And here's the real point. To realize this victory over the mountains, he says we have to let go of the past and embrace the future that God promises us. Many people can't go into the future because they won't let go of the past. That's why he ties this kind of faith into forgiveness. It's amazing. You'd say, well, did these verses ever, like he's talking fig trees and mountains and suddenly forgive. Isn't that another thing for another time? No, he ties it in to mountain moving faith. Therefore, now he's saying, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, be removed and cast into the sea and doesn't doubt, but believes, you'll have what he says. Therefore, I say to you, whatever you ask for when you pray, believe you'll receive it. and you will have it and, and. In other words, in addition to these thoughts or in conclusion, whenever you pray, you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him that your father in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. If you do not forgive, neither will your father in heaven forgive your trespasses. And David, the psalmist, for example, said, if I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me. I can pray all I want. And really I see it, it's something simple that Jesus is saying, if you want a future, let go of the past. Let go, don't hang on to the past. Let go of the past. Let go of whatever you thought was going to make you happy or whatever made you unhappy or whoever was used to do that. Let it go. Let it go. As the apostle Paul says in Philippians 3.13, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead. Paul, there was the formula, there was the pathway. Paul says, I've not achieved, I'm not fully there yet to where I need to go. But one thing I'm gonna do, he says, I'm gonna leave behind what needs to be left behind. If God says, let it go, I'm gonna let it go. And I'm gonna press forward. to this high calling of God in Christ Jesus. You see, that's when the mountain moves. You see, when you and I, you see, when the children of Israel came out of Egypt, they come out of bondage and darkness, but they didn't go into the place of life and promise because the mountains were still there. You know, they talked about mountains. There were mountains, there were giants there. And they just said, we can't do it because the mountains are there and the giants are there. The problem is they were willing to come out, but they were not willing to go in. And so many people are like that today in the body of Christ. They're willing to come out of what used to hold them captive, but they're not willing to go in to what God has for them in the future. And these people all died in the dry place. And a lot of people are attending very, very dry churches today where it's boring. There's no life. There's no anticipation of God's presence. In order to convince the people that God is there, there has to be light and smoke and all kinds of activity. Just like the prophets of Baal on the top of Mount Carmel, they had to do all kinds of things to try to convince the people that their God was with them. No. You have to want what God wants for your life. It's really that simple. And when you do, you can speak to the mountain now, and the mountain will move and be cast into the midst of the sea. I promise you, oh God, I promise you, this is true. I've seen this in my own life. I didn't want to live my Christian life speaking to fig trees all the rest of my days. I wanted to be free from the mountains. The things that stood before me that were there to say, you can't go any farther. This is in your way. You can't climb this. You can't go around this. This is too big for you. But Jesus said, I can speak to it. I can speak to it. I don't know what your mountain is. It could be loneliness. I don't know what it is. Could be a wound so deep you think you'll never be healed. Could be just a lousy self-image. I don't know what the mountain is, but I do know that Jesus said you can speak to it. Why would we not do that? For what heavenly reason would we stand back with such a promise? Speak to the mountain. Whatever that is, and if you don't know what it is, ask God. Maybe you're just unstable. I don't know. Whatever the mountain is. Call it by its right name. Ask God what its name is and just say, God, what is this thing that allows these fig trees to continuously grow in my life? It allows me to be drawn away from one deception to another, always looking for happiness apart from where you say it is. No, I want what you have for me. I want the life you have for me. And when we do what Paul said to do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are before, That's when the power to speak to the mountain becomes yours. There's power in prayer. Jesus Christ does not just say empty words. He didn't say, well, look, I got to fill all these words and fill these chapters, so I got to say something. No, what he said is truth. What he said is absolute. What he said, it can't be contravened. It was spoken through the lips of the one who created the universe by the word of his mouth. He cannot lie. And if he said, I can speak to the mountain, then I can speak to the mountain. Now I've asked tonight, there's three young men that are here with us this evening, and I've asked them, they've just had a miracle. They've just seen a mountain move. And that's why I wanted people tonight to listen to this online, because if you are in a place where you don't believe that God can do a miracle in your life, then you're missing the whole point of what this whole season we're now living in is all about. It's more in the heart of God to do a miracle for you than it is in your heart to experience a miracle. I want you to know that. And when you hear the testimonies of these young men, I think your heart's gonna sing. I think you're gonna shout and sigh. I think some of you are gonna stand on your feet and you're gonna begin to speak to the mountains in your life and believe that they're going to be removed and cast into the midst of the sea. So Hunter, Jack, and Dakota, why don't you come now? And they're gonna share their story. And at the end of, there they are. These are three young men that by the grace of God, in addition to a couple of others that I've heard about, are going to be attending our Bible school here this fall, Lord willing. I got to just tell part of your story. Can I tell them? I'm not going to tell all of it. No, they were helping me. They come out of a program in Alabama. They'll tell you all about that. And they were helping me do something a couple of days ago. And I just asked a couple of them, I said, what's your vision for the future? What would you like your life to be? And the two guys who were with me just said, well, we When we get done, we've gotta go back, we've gotta go to court, there's gonna be some consequences for some things, and when we get through all of that stuff, it might be another year, could be a little bit longer, but we would love to come back to Summit, to this Bible school, because we've been touched of God here, and we really believe that, that we believe that we can have a new life, that God can do something for us. And so I just stepped out in faith and I said, well, if you can get free and you can come to this school, I will see to it that you are a scholarship. You get, as a matter of fact, a full ride at the school. And I really, really, I really committed myself, you guys. So we're all in this together now. And then God gave them a miracle. You need to hear about it tonight. You're gonna hear the story first. Then you're gonna hear about the miracle. Then we're gonna sing together. Amazing Grace. And Isaac's going to come and help us. We're going to sing Amazing Grace, and then we're going to go to communion together online. So make sure you listen. Give this your best year. You come share your story with us. Hello, everybody here at Summit and online. My name is Hunter Gillen. I'm 20 years old, and I was born in Scottsboro, Alabama. I grew up in a fairly broken home, and from the time I was born until the age of eight years old, I watched my father go down a dark road of addiction with alcohol and drugs. I remember being a child and seeing my father act so absurd and obnoxious toward me and my mother to the point of it being abusive. There were several times as a small child that I had to watch my father be put in handcuffs and hauled away in the back of cop cars as a result of the fights between him and my mother. When I was nine years old, I went to stay the night at one of my cousin's houses. And the next day, I returned home to find that my father was nowhere to be found, along with all of his things. My father had left me and my mother. I was broken, confused, and questioning everything. Whenever I would ask questions about where he was and why he wasn't with us, the only answers I could seem to get was that he chose the drugs and alcohol over me and my mother. So, for the next couple of years, I wondered what was so good about drugs and alcohol that someone would choose them over their own family. At the age of 13, I decided that I had enough of the wondering and got drunk and smoked weed for the first time. I began drinking and smoking weed whenever I had the chance to, even before and during school up until the age of 15, when I got a call from my mom saying that my father had died of liver failure. Now, knowing that the relationship that I wanted restored and I thought any father and son should have would never be possible, I was devastated and only acted out worse. At the age of 15, I tried cocaine for the first time at a party and quickly fell in love with the feeling that it gave me. I began experimenting with other drugs, and by the age of 17, I had noticed that my partying habits had led me straight into an opioid addiction. Shortly after my 17th birthday, one of my best friends had an opioid overdose and passed away. A lot of people ask me, shouldn't it have been easier to give up the drugs, considering you just watched someone you love die from them? And I've asked myself the very same question, but in fact, it was the opposite. Over the next couple of months, I had developed a full-blown addiction to fentanyl and began stealing from the people that I love to support my addiction. Carelessly, I fell deeper and deeper into addiction, leading up to around my 19th birthday, and decided that enough was enough and I needed to check myself into a detox to get clean and live the normal life of any 19-year-old. against the medical advice of the detox, and thinking that my addiction had just vanished because I was a few days sober, I got home and quickly realized that it hadn't. I couldn't seem to get past the desire that I had to get high, and for the first time in my life, I cried out to God for him to do whatever he had to do to take the desire away. Not long after that, I found myself right back in addiction, worse than ever, selling the drugs I was using to support my addiction, feeling as if God had ignored my prayer and that I wasn't hurting anyone else because I was supporting myself and felt like I had no reason to change my life. But God did hear my cry for me to do whatever was necessary. On August 22nd of 2023, four days before my 20th birthday, I was arrested and charged with three separate drug trafficking charges, a distribution of drugs charge, and two separate illegal firearms charges all at the same time. I thought surely this was the end of my life and that I would never see the outside world again. I was locked up in Jackson County Jail for almost two months, this is where I met Dakota, and he told me about a discipleship program slash recovery program called His Place in Auburn, Alabama. I immediately began trying to get into His Place and prayed and prayed that God would give me just one more chance. And by God's grace and the fact that these were my first major charges, the courts agreed to give me a second chance at life and give me a year at His Place along with 18 months of drug court. After being at his place for less than a month, the same man that told me about his place while in jail arrived back for a second time there. And shortly after that, I met Jack and we became roommates. After around seven months at his place, which is where I started the relationship that I have now with Christ and built the foundation that I'll live on for the rest of my life. In April of 2024, the opportunity to come to Summit to work for the summer was going around his place. Me, being under the assumption that I couldn't leave the state of Alabama because of my charges, prayed and prayed for some type of miracle so that I could come to the place I had heard so much about. God also heard that prayer. And sure enough, I was one of the guys chose to come here. From the moment we arrived, I knew that I wanted to be a student here. And torn with what to do and turning to God for answers, he undoubtedly showed me the path that he wants me on. I can clearly see that God provide, I can clearly see God's providence that has brought me here today. Each step of my life has led up to this exact moment, so I could possibly be able to reach someone and give them hope. God does perform miracles every day, and every one of us up here are living proof of that. God hears us, and he never gets tired of hearing the same prayers. And thanks to that, I'm able to feel the full love of God. I now know what a relationship between a father and son should feel like. In the last year, In the last year, I felt a love like no other, and a love that is unexplainable, all because I gave my life to Christ. Even if it was a Hail Mary prayer that started all this, God hears it, and if it is in his will, he will answer. The grace of God is sufficient, and knowing that I don't deserve any of this, he continues to show grace to each and every one of us every single day. And before I give this to Jack, I'd like to read two verses of scripture that I relate with a lot in all of this. It's Psalm 59, 16, and 17. It says, but I will sing of your strength. I will sing aloud of your steadfast love in the morning, for you have been a fortress and a refuge in my day of distress. Oh my God, I will sing praises to you, for you, oh God, are my fortress, the God who shows me steadfast love. Thank you. Hi, everyone. My name is Jack Garner. I'm from Scottsboro, Alabama, and I'm 28 years old. I've spent the last 20 years feeling separated from God. I remember being very young and having some difficult questions about what happened when life on earth was over. And probably around eight years old, I remember going to my dad with these questions and him explaining God to me the best he knew how, but it didn't make sense in my mind, and he answered the best he could, which led to harder questions. I remember crying all night that night because I didn't believe in God. That night was when my skepticism began, which later evolved into atheism. It sparked something in me that led down a path of darkness, 15 years of drug addiction, dozens of overdoses, countless rehabs, several months at a time incarcerated, years of sleeping on the streets, under bridges, and trying to find peace in a needle and a spoon. I was doing anything possible to try to fill the God-sized hole in my heart. I was so lonely and lost, I remember crying out to God that I didn't even believe in to just take my life away. Little did I know at the time, but that was exactly what he was going to do, just not in the way that I intended. The last night I ever had to sleep outside was actually when Dakota, who's here behind me, came to pick me up from the streets of Atlanta, Georgia. I had nowhere to go at the time and was sleeping by a dumpster. in an abandoned shopping center. Dakota brought me back to Alabama, and he cared for me the best he knew how, juggling his own problems and addiction, up until the point that I was arrested and sat in jail, until the opportunity that has unfolded before us today. He and I worked together during some of our hardest, most painful times. While we were incarcerated, most of the last year, eventually reunited and have been blessed to experience some of the best times together. After being in jail the better part of a year, I went to court expecting to be sentenced to prison. I was approached and offered an opportunity to take one more chance at maybe saving my life. The lady from court said that someone must have been praying for me and asked if I believed in God. I told her I did not, but I wished that I did. I was sent from jail to a faith-based rehab ministry in South Alabama called His Place that helped broken and lost people like myself, which is where Dakota and I were reunited at, and also where I met Hunter. I began searching for answers through atheist-turned-Christian authors like C.S. Lewis and Lee Strobel. I remember the moment when I found the final piece to my puzzle and it was put into place. And all the questions that I'd held onto for 20 years had been put to rest. I remember walking out into the yard and falling to my knees in tears and telling God that I believed and crying out to Jesus to save me. I knew at that moment that my suffering was not meaningless. It all had purpose to lead me to that moment of crying out for a savior. I know the feeling of being empty and lost, feeling unloved and abandoned, being completely hopeless and wanting nothing more for it to just end. I know that pain well. I remember it well. I also know now a love that I can't begin to explain or comprehend. a love that can't be put into words, a joy like no other, a relief knowing I'm not alone, the feeling of what it's like to lay it all down at the feet of God and to feel his presence and his love surround you, to feel a hope like no other, a peace in my heart that I've craved my entire life. In the darkest moments when I've been beaten down into the mud for so long, God picked me up, He dusted me off, and He showed me a love I'll never be able to fully fathom. He showed me He still has purpose for me, and though I may not understand what that fully is yet, I trust in God. I know in my heart that He is with me always, and He always has been. And if there is anyone out there online that may be listening that feels so lost and hopeless, like you don't, like you've been fighting for so long and you don't know how much fight you have left, don't stop now. Because Jesus loves you. No matter what you've done, He loves you. And He will fight for you. You just have to let Him. He hears your prayers. Hello, my name is Dakota Brennan Young. I'm 28 from Scottsboro, Alabama. I want to tell you sometimes it's not about what you have, but what you're missing. I'll get to that soon. Growing up in a divided family, I always felt like there was something in my heart missing. I never could quite figure it out. I was an anger child. on the outside but felt like I was a nice, kind, and loving one on the inside, and that always tore me up and confused me. I began smoking weed at 15 and partying all throughout high school. By the time I was 17, I decided to move out of my mother's house, which was the start of my downfall. I immediately started tripping acid, shrooms, molly, and casually taking pills. By the time I was 18, I caught my third but first big charge for robbing a dentist's office for gas, equipment, and a hard drive worth countless lives. I had to go to jail and ultimately put myself in a position that I had to leave Alabama for time to pass. After bouncing around for a few years, I ended up moving to Frankfort, Kentucky to build a relationship with my dad and get my life back on track. At this time, my dad had already given his life to God, and I don't say that lightly because he is one of those that seemed to have a bright light moment, and what seemed instant, God delivered him. But as you know, just because you come to Christ doesn't mean you still don't make mistakes. I say that because three months into me moving there, my brother came down to visit me for my birthday. I jumped in the shower that morning, and he stupidly and jokingly jumped in behind me. At the time, I honestly didn't think anything of it, but I immediately jumped out and got dressed. And instead of saying anything to my brother that started the whole thing, my dad got in my face, calling me gay, cursing at me, and grabbed my plate of food and slammed it into the wall. Things got physical, and he kicked me out of the house in a town I knew nothing about in cold weather. For some reason, that day destroyed a piece of me and my heart. And for some time after that, I was confused about my own sexuality. From the pain and confusion of the whole thing, my drug use ramped up and I began taking so many psychedelics that led me to a deep depression and anxiety. I eventually met the woman I would later find out would become the mother to my first child. It was with her that I started using heroin and meth for over a year until I found out that she was pregnant and was having my child. We ended up getting clean and she disappeared until the day I got a call from her. saying she was headed to the hospital to have my son Connor. Little did I know at the time, I was about to walk into the most devastating thing a father could ever go through. I was clueless this whole time about what was going on, but my dad got there and took one look at my baby mama and broke inside. He looked at me and said, son, remember when I told you that if you continue this path, that one day you will see a wave of destruction you have caused based on choices you make, And I said, yeah, and he replied, today's that day, and he left. I realized what he meant when Connor came out addicted to the very drug that I started with his mother. On top of later finding out he was autistic, for two months I sat in the hospital day in and day out, watching my baby boy go through a sickness that cripples even the strongest of adults. The difference to me was that he didn't ask for this, I had caused this. I swore I would never use again, and I didn't for a while, until I relapsed when he was a year and two months old. His mother left him when he was in the hospital, so it was just me and him with my addiction. I started using excuses as to why it didn't matter that I was using to my family, stating that it only affected me and I'm caring for my son, so what does it matter to them? Shortly after, I ate my words and realized that same boy that I love more than anything in this world, that was already born addicted, had gotten a hold of my drugs at two years old and almost died. At the hospital, I came up with an addict's lie of how I got them and even passed a drug test that I shouldn't have passed, all while praying out that if my son gets saved, that I'll never use again. So you can imagine the pain and brokenness I felt the next morning when I got up, so sick from having no drugs, looking in the mirror and squalling, screaming at myself with hatred at the fact that I was once again sticking a needle in my arm, wondering why I couldn't stop. It was that morning that I came to the realization that I had a problem that I was never gonna be able to get away from, I finally crossed the line in my life that I was never gonna be able to get back over. If that wouldn't stop me, then nothing will. There was not a slot bit of hope in my heart after that. A year later, I had my second son and was going to rehab after rehab, detox after detox, just to end up believing and hopelessly using. So lost and broken, wanting to just kill myself, but not being able to actually do it because of the love that I have for him. Being afraid to leave them, I decided to just accept that I was gonna be a suffering dad and try to do the best I could do with it, with what strength that I have. When they were five and two, I got arrested and they got taken from me. And because I couldn't stay clean, I went to a discipleship program called His Place in Auburn, Alabama and met a man named Kenny Young who began pouring out to me in ways that I'll, sorry. He started pouring out to me in ways that I'll forever be grateful for. I started to have hope and started to slowly have the emptiness I have always felt being filled up because he was telling me about this friend that he said that he had that saved his life out of addiction. That friend's name was Jesus. I got saved and done well for a while, but was under the assumption that once saved, your life magically gets better. I accepted Jesus in my life, but I didn't press in. I didn't surrender myself fully to him and trust him with my life. I got blessings from him that I didn't deserve and got content and stagnant and forgot what he had already done for me. When I got what I wanted, I began looking back into my own heart and started doing things in my own strength again. With no foundation, I had a series of events that happened that slowly broke my spirit. And the nail in the coffin, thank you, the nail in the coffin was me breaking my arm at his place and almost losing function of my hand. They put me on pain pills and off I went back into the world of addiction, only this time without my kids. I got deeper and deeper into addiction and further and further away from God, I started dealing high amounts of drugs that eventually got my door kicked in and led to my arrest. One of the people in my addiction that I love and truly do care about is here with me today. Me and Jack ran the streets together and firsthand experienced each other's pain together in the world. Jack got locked up and I soon followed right behind. After a while of incarceration, I ended up getting sent to lockdown. And my time at lockdown, Jack was about to leave his third rehab again and was talking to me on video call. And I remember asking him, Why not just give it some time? And he replied, because I refuse to go to a faith-based program. Isn't that funny? He eventually comes back to jail. At this time, instead of prison, I get blessed to get the offer to go back to his place. Four months later, my director comes up asking about my dealing with Jack Garner because they're trying to get him into his place. And I explain, and his reply was, it's not happening. Y'all won't be here together. Everyone is rightfully scared about the situation, but God knew. Even I was a little scared. because I was truly trying to get my life back together and trying to seek God and build a foundation that I didn't build my last time at his place, and I just didn't know where his head was gonna be at when he got there. As soon he came, him and Hunter was roommates right next to me, and we held onto a certain scripture that is also a promise that if you seek me wholeheartedly, I will reveal myself. With many ups and downs, God has slowly broken us, and it has been the most beautiful thing to experience and walk out with these guys. We have all failed together, cried together, prayed together, and we're now walking in victory together. Out of everyone to get chose to serve at Summit, God chose us. But a few weeks before I found out I was going to come, God had placed this feeling in my heart that something big was about to happen in my life, like some big breakthrough. At first, I thought it was the fact that I was going to get to come serve at Summit. Then I thought it was the people I met at Summit that just helped me see how deep and far this walk with Christ can really go. And then I thought it was the much needed and loving reunification of me and my oldest son. And then one day, Pastor Carter, we go off to work with him and he kinda explained the situation. He had offered us financial aid that if we came here, and if we was ever gonna get to come here, that he would take care of the finances part. And we went back to our room and we was confused at the fact that like, Why would God dangle this opportunity in front of us? Why would he put the puzzle at the end of this and not take care of the rest? Because we obviously have big charges that tend to not get dropped. And we went back to the room and we all just stood there in faith and prayer, believing that no man or no situation on earth can keep us out of God's will, and we knew that. And we stood there as brothers, like with Trey and Justin, and these two guys, we did believe that it was gonna happen, that nothing was gonna stop that, and within five minutes, Trey came back in the room and was like, bro, he's like, we just prayed about this situation, and we just got a call from Kenny, which is our director, saying that not only is your finances taken care of, not only are you getting to apply to the school, but also attending the school, they're gonna drop your charges, and Like I said, these aren't charges that typically get dropped, especially with the history that we have. There is a mountain in front of us that couldn't be moved, and our power or anyone else's on earth. Everything that has happened is just truly impossible by man's standards. If I didn't experience God's grace and sovereignty myself in this moment and witness firsthand, knowing me, I could have doubted how this all happened, but that's the point. I struggle with faith sometimes because I remember sitting there at my lowest points and hearing all these people being delivered, and in my mind, it never seemed like it could be me. But I opened my heart and allowed God in and allowed Him to work in my heart. And because I struggle with faith and unbelief, my prayers have been for God to help me with my unbelief. And He allowed things to unfold in my life and our lives that doesn't get to happen how it did in any other way but by God. He did all this to show us that He is the Lord, our God. I now realize that feeling of something big that was about to happen was all those things that I stated above. He has shown me that if you love Him, fear Him, and seek Him, that there are no limitations. What he did for someone else, he will do for you too. I encourage anyone struggling with whatever it is to take a chance on God and trust in him. Seek him and he will not only change your heart, but he will also change your life. His grace is sufficient. I no longer suffer for no reason. I have learned to suffer well. The walk is hard at first because you have to learn to live for someone other than yourself. This is the only battle you will ever fight in your entire life that you win by surrendering. Praise God that the one you're surrendering to loves you no matter what. Your suffering does have a purpose and I pray that you give your life to God because He is worthy and so are you. Thank you. Yeah, just stay right here. I'm telling you, All three of you are gonna preach the gospel. It's something I know and hear. You know, it might be in different facets, it won't always, it doesn't mean it'll be a pulpit, but you're going to have an effect on people because you've understood pain. Until you understand pain, I don't think you can ever be fully an effective, fully effective minister of the gospel if you don't understand where the people are coming from. But you understand, you know loneliness, you know pain, you know addiction, you know what it feels like to be hopeless. But also, you now know the mercy of God, and you're starting to know the power of God. You know, when they prayed, and you get two phone calls, right? The first one said, allowed them, they could stay here and attend the school if they wanted to. But the second one was from the court system, that the judge would drop the charges if they would successfully, successfully complete their time here at Summit. So there's a dual reason for doing well here at the school. But we're going to meet, we're going to start meeting every couple of weeks. We're going to have a Bible study together. And doesn't God have a sense of humor? You guys with your background, me and ex-cop, and we're going to study together. And I told them, next time I go into a war zone, you're the kind of guys I want to have with me when we go into some of these war-torn areas of the world. And Dakota said, well, if they drop the charges, I can leave the country. So that's, and get back in on top of that too, as well. So, which is always a great thing. So the amazing grace of God, folks. How could you doubt the grace of God? Where are you tonight listening to me online or listening to us and listening to these gentlemen? Where are you in this world that your story is deeper or darker or worse than what these gentlemen have come through and the things that they've experienced? And if God can move their mountain, and bring them to a place where they can be taught and trained and be given the new life that Jesus Christ promised. He said, he himself said, I didn't come just to give you eternal life. And that would be good enough if that's all it was. But I came to give you an abundant life, which means a reason to live. I mean, it's a life that has resources, a life that has something that's given by God to be able to be given to others, a joy and a peace that passes understanding. You know, you'll look at your pictures in a few years and you won't recognize those people anymore. You know, the old people, the old things do pass away and all things become new. It's true. And you become the person that God designed you to be right in the beginning. Now, sin and deviation made you, tried to make you into something else, but God wouldn't let you go because he loved you. He's always loved you. He always knew you. Matter of fact, in the Bible, he told one of the great prophets, he said, I knew you even before you were formed in your mother's womb. It's amazing. And loved you. And he said, I was not, we sing that song, there's no mountain he won't climb, there's no valley he won't, and it's true. It's absolutely true. When everybody else gives up on you. God is still there. You know, the whole court system could be condemning you to prison the rest of your life. Every fen can be writing you off. Your family can say you're worthless and you're never going anywhere. And when all the crowd clears and you're left alone, there's one still standing. And he says, I created you. I created you. I love you with an everlasting love. He said through the prophet Isaiah, a nursing mother could Tentatively forget her child, but I could never forget you. He said I've engraved you on the palms of my hands I love that verse you you engrave with iron. I I I Tattooed you there may put it that way on the palms of my hands when those nails went through his hands. Your name was on those nails He says I will never forget you and others may abandon you but God says I won't and so tonight for those that are are listening online listened Just admit you can't save yourself and give up trying to change on your own. You're not going to be able to do it. Human effort has its limits, but the love of God has no limits. And just believe that God so loved you that he gave his only begotten son who came to this world to get you because you couldn't get to him any other way, so he had to come to you. And he went to a cross and he was beaten and spit on and rejected and whipped and hated and mocked and died in your place to take the penalty for everything that you've ever done upon himself. What more could he do? Tell me how much more could he have shown his love for you? How much more could he have displayed his dedication to bringing you back to himself again? and just confess him as your Lord and Savior. I love the fact that when Jesus was on the cross, there's a thief beside him and he didn't have time to get baptized. He didn't have time to do any good works. He never even went to new believers class, you know. He didn't go to Bible school either. He just said, remember me when you come into your kingdom. And Jesus looked at him and said, today, you will be with me in paradise. Just remember me. That's the depth of God's love. So pray this simple prayer with me, those that are online tonight. Pray this in your heart. And we're all gonna pray it for your sake tonight too as well. Lord Jesus Christ, thank you for loving me. Thank you for coming to get me when I couldn't get back to you. Tonight, I give you my life. I invite you into my heart. to be my Lord and my Savior. I don't understand everything yet, but I'll know more in the coming days. I ask you to lead me, guide me, teach me, help me. And I will speak to the mountains in my life, and I will command them in your name. to get out of my way and be cast into the sea, because I'm going where you're calling me. Thank you for saving me tonight. From this day forward, Jesus, I belong to you. Amen and amen. If you prayed that from your heart tonight, text the word decided to 51,000, just by faith, just go ahead and do it. Text the word DECIDED to 51000. I don't know if these guys can sing or not. Can any of you sing? No, okay, no, no, no. You can, you can? No, you can't, okay, all right. Well, we sing it by faith, and we sing for an audience of one tonight. Though there might be thousands of people gonna see this in the future, but we sing it for an audience of one. It's to him. And we sing, amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. Did you know who wrote that? A slave ship captain. He was so hated by his men that he fell overboard drunk one night, and they used a harpoon, and they harpooned one of his legs to pull him back on the boat. He had no respect, he was so vile, he was so violent, but he got saved. And he wrote the song, Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now I'm found. I was blind, but now I see. And we think that the people who wrote these songs were raised in a church next to an organ singing Amazing Grace. And we don't realize that they were people just like us. And he wrote a song that has endured through the ages because it was a song from his heart to God.